Bonus

This isn't one of the handmade problem sweaters, but it's a problem nonetheless.

I want to wear socially acceptable bathrobes to work as much as the next person, but I think this sweater may have crossed some kind of clothes/pajamas demarcation line:



It's too big maybe? Not enough waist shaping? There's a belt, which I pull to the back and tie as through that might create some shape, but I think it just makes it more bathrobe-esque.

I've though about taking it along the side seams, but I worry about the bulk of the excess fabric (or that it would unravel if I trimmed it off... although that's basically a steek, isn't it? I'm not sure how well the yarn will grip--it looks tweedy and woolly, but it's actually a cotton-acrylic blend).

I have another store-bought sweater which lacked a waist, but which I was able to fix--I sewed a strip of fabric horizontally across the inside of the back (where the waist should have been) leaving the short ends open. Then I cut a length of 1" wide elastic shorter than the fabric, ran it through the channel I'd made with the fabric, and sewed it securely to the sweater on both ends. That way, it gathered the sweater across the channel. I can't tell if that would work here, or if the addition of elastic would just move the sweater further into pajama territory.

Is this all in my head? (Two people complimented my sweater, but they're kind people who thought I'd made it, so does that really count?) Is there a way to add shaping to a sweater that I'm missing? (I've also tried belting over the sweater, but haven't like that one bit.) What would you do?

(P.S. I thought the sweater was a wool-acrylic blend, till I checked the label as I was writing... now that I know its secret, I'm just going to attribute all its troubles to lack of memory, ok?)