converting pullover sweater to cardigan

[leafylady]

I've got several loose fit pullover sweaters that I'd like to convert to cardigans. Two are tightly knitted wool. The 3rd is a loosely knitted cotton.
What is the best way to convert? I am thinking that I'd cut them up the front middle, then sew ribbon and/or bias tape on the cut edges, then put in a zipper or button holes & buttons.

Should I perhaps sew on a strip of interfacing before I even cut, with zigzag stitching on either side of the cut line, to help keep it from unraveling? If yes, would I sew a piece of interfacing on front and back or just on one side?

[AnnaReilly]

I would do the interfacing and stitching before cutting. I just think it would be hard to sew a straight even edge once there are raw unraveling edges involved. I've thought about doing this myself... let us know how it works!

[leafylady]

I used iron-on interfacing, on one side of the fabric and then cut. That worked well, no unraveling, held up for the cutting and then for sewing on the new edges.

I took the easy way out and bought bias tape, for quilt finishing, to do the edges. This worked out ok, but I couldn't match up one of the sweaters, so I used a contrasting color, which makes it look more homemade than handcrafted (kwim?)

Here is my visual problem. I didn't think about the collar. Now I have this strip of bias sewn all the way up and over the collar. I think it looks kind of goofy, slapped on as an extra (which it is, but I don't want it to look like that). How could I have done that to look better? Would I have to also sew something over the collar line to visually finish it off?

If I put a funky button at the top, it might help or it might just highlight the problem.
help?
thoughts?

I haven't put on any hooks or buttons yet.

By the way, I'm doing this because I haven't been able to find any washable heavy knit wool or wool blend cardigans in the stores. They are all dry clean only or lightweight cotton knits.

[hydrangea]

Do you knit at all? If so (maybe even if not), you might want to look up "steeks" or "steeking" in a search engine. That's how norwegian (fair isle) sweaters are made. They cut sections, then pick up stitches, and knit along those edges. You might get some ideas from looking into this.

[leafylady]

no knitting for me yet, maybe when the kids get older. But thanks for the tip.