Turtleneck to V-neck

Turtlenecks are one clothing item that I really dislike.  I'm sure they serve a purpose in cold weather, but cold weather is rare in South Florida. I purchased this one at Gap Outlet (even though I didn't like the fit or the fact that it's a turtleneck) because it was cheap and I really liked the color.  Since I don't have the opportunity to wear sweaters often, there's no reason to spend a lot of money on them.  I know I won't wear it with the turtleneck so I came up with the idea to turn it into a v-neck.  Remember, I'm relatively new at sewing (and completely self taught) so I'm sure that I don't really sew things the conventional way.  However, I think that this was a great idea (and it worked)!

Note:  The actual color is closer to the first photo - the lighting isn't correct in the ones below (I probably should have used the flash).

I began by using a v-neck sweater that I like to draw a pattern.  This helped but was not perfect because the neckline of the turtleneck was way bigger than the neckline of my favorite sweater.

I put a piece of paper inside my favorite sweater and traced a pattern.  I cut out the pattern and cut the turtleneck off of the sweater I was re-purposing, then used the pattern to cut the v in the new sweater.

I measured to make sure the v was centered and then cut it out.  As you can see, the neckline of my brown sweater was smaller so I had to make adjustments.  The neckline on the blue sweater ended up being a little bit bigger than I would have liked.  I used strips from the turtleneck to create the edging around the neck.

The first strip that I cut was perfect because it had the finished edge.  I used that piece for the front.  I cut the next piece twice as wide, folded it, ironed and sewed it so that it would also have a "finished" edge (I considered leaving the raw edge showing but didn't like the way that it looked).  To make the v in the front, I laid the two front pieces on top of each other and sewed them at an angle (the angle will depend on the angle of the v on your sweater).  I also sewed the pieces of the collar together, then sewed the collar onto the sweater.

It's not perfect, but there is a much greater chance that I will wear it now than before, that is, when it cools off a little.  I was sweating while trying to take photos of myself wearing the sweater (inside - with the AC on)!!