Project: Sweater retool 2025

What’s this? Another sewing retool project?? Yes!
What can I say? Maybe it’s just my local shop, but while the offerings at Goodwill seem to be getting worse lately (thanks largely to the influx in garbage-quality fast fashion from places like SHEIN), I still manage to find good (i.e. with Swarzy potential!) pieces now and then. Case in point: this odd women’s sweater-thing made by Kenar – I guess when worn open, it might be considered a cardigan?

At this point in my scavenging career, the initial attribute I scan for is texture (and by extension, fabric content) more than anything like color or design, so considering its fuzzy nap, I instantly had this sweater pegged as wool. As I’m always working towards the goal of GFFA-ifying my modern hiking kit, I thought this could be a good replacement for my current midlayer (an Earth-y, crewneck cashmere sweater) – but not without a little retooling!

The material itself is great – it’s actually a knit, but since it’s 100% wool there’s enough felting going on that it both looks woven and doesn’t unravel when cut! Color-wise, it’s a bit brighter than simply Navy blue and a bit lighter than Royal blue, which is fine for GFFA uses. Obviously I’d prefer something a little lighter or less saturated, but it otherwise checked most of my boxes… except one.

(As you can see, it also came with a matching sash to tie it closed, which I realize instantly makes it read as ‘bathrobe’ and less like an actual galactic garment – compare the first two pictures: it’s incredible how moving the knot to the back instantly creates a cleaner, Swarzier look!)

The original design of this sweater was completely goofy – I guess it’s technically double-breasted, but the front panels and the collar are one piece (seam at the back of the neck), and since the collar was a good 5+ inches tall, when folded down it turned into like, the widest ‘70s lapels you’ve ever seen. However, all that extra material is also a positive, as it means we now have something to use for any tweaks we want to make!
While I suppose a drapey cardigan might be Swarzy in the right circumstances, I don’t think it really fits the vibe of an active, adventurous character. But luckily there is a tried-and-true GFFA style worn by active characters…one which requires extra-wide front panels!

That’s right, we’re going full double-breasted on this one!

Since my off-the-rack sweater was constructed with the collar and front body as one piece, the main challenge would be to create a rounded neckline to attach a new, shorter collar.
As it was technically woven and I wasn’t sure how much unknitting would happen when I started taking things apart, I didn’t want to start ripping out all the seams to make it lay flat before making my changes. Instead, I just pinned the fronts together, chalked out the curve for the new neckline (using Mood’s legally-not-Han Solo shirt pattern), and cut!

I stopped my cut at the shoulder seam, seam-ripped the back of the neck to free up the seam allowance, and used the removed material from the monster collar fall to make a new, shorter standing collar (roughly based on that of the Mood pattern, again).

With the trickiest and most important issue out of the way, it was time to move on to finishing touches. The inside of the front panels used these edge strips, but I didn’t like seeing them on the folded-down front corner, so I decided to emulate Luke’s tunic with a contrasting lining. I cut an 8×8″ square of blue linen from my scrap bag, serged the edges (linen loves to unravel), and gave it a quick simmer in some RIT to darken it a bit closer to the sweater itself. I then pressed the edges under and hand-sewed it in place with a blind/slip stitch.

The final alteration I made came late in the game. I realized there was no functional reason for the overlapped sections to be completely double-breasted (i.e. each fully overlapping), so to cut down on bulk (and an ounce of weight) I chopped off the underside layer about 1/2″ below the lining panel:

Then it was time to simply pin the two (or rather, one-and-a-half) front panels together, and sew – what a transformation!:

In my experience, midlayers really only come out when not moving (in camp or when taking a break), or in cooler weather when making descents; when we were wrapping up our AT thruhike in ’21, the continual up and downs of WNC/East TN and north Georgia in later November/early December meant we were constantly adding and shedding our wind/rain- and mid- layers to regulate temperatures. Overall, I’m very pleased with the final product and I’m excited to hit some trails with this piece in my pack later this year.

What do you think? What do you look for in GFFA-worthy hiking gear? Let me know in the comments below or come discuss with us at the SWLH facebook community!

(The final weight, for those who care about such things, came out to 409 g or 14.4 oz – about 75% heavier than my cashmere sweater (242 g/8.2oz), but I’m fine taking a slight weight penalty for the aesthetics!)

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