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Now that we are officially in sweater season, my thoughts have been turning to that late 90s standby, the cardigan set. I’m not talking about the frumpy twin sets from the 1950s - the latest incarnations of the cardigan set are sexy and body conscious, as exemplified by Katie Holmes wearing a cardigan-and-bra set from Khaite:

I loved the slouchy, louche look of the piece but promptly forgot about it as I don’t have many opportunities in my life to wear a cashmere bra.

But then cardigan sets intruded on my consciousness yet again in the form of this Rosie Assoulin sweater set, which consists of a cropped tank top and cropped cardigan/bolero/shrug that can be worn on or off the shoulders:

I tried to ignore its siren call, asking myself where exactly I intended to wear a sweater tank top and cropped cardigan (answer: nowhere). But its charms kept turning in my mind - it’s a convertible sweater that can be worn five different ways! It reminds me of a sweater set I used to rock back in high school! I can wear it with my new bootcut jeans while lounging on the couch! On the other hand, my practical side reminded me that this sweater set retails for an eye-watering $750. I tried to justify the price, telling myself that if I wore it 100 times, it would only cost $7.50 per wear, but ultimately, I just could not bring myself to drop that much money on a sweater, no matter how much I loved it.

Luckily, it is possible to make a DIY cropped cardigan set for a fraction of the price using McCall’s 8003. McCall’s 8003 is drafted as a one-piece top with a yoke, but it could be broken out into two pieces (a cropped tank top and cropped cardigan/bolero/shrug) pretty easily.

Emma One Sock has some gorgeous cable sweater knit fabrics that I think would be perfect for this:

I’ve ordered the fabric swatches and can’t wait to get started!

UPDATE: I made this cropped cardigan set by refashioning an old sweater and using McCall’s 8003. Check it out here.