Beginning a Cardigan

I started one of my cardigans that I mentioned in my last post.  The first is made from one of my pull over sweaters. 

I traced a shirt that fits my 3 year old onto a big piece of brown paper.  If you want yours to fit over bulkier  clothes don't for get to make your pattern a little bigger than a normal fitting shirt.  I  also folded the pattern in half and trimmed/added so it was symmetrical.

Then I pinned the pattern directly onto my inside out sweater making sure to match up the collar.  Then I sewed along the pattern.  I found that this made the fabric more stable without leaving anything that would need to be torn away later.  I wanted a long cardigan, so I gradually angled my stitching line from the waist of the shirt pattern out to the lower corners of the existing sweater.  I also wasn't sure what I wanted to do abut cuffs, so I continued sewing past my sleeve patterns to the end of the sweater sleeves.

 

Now we have a long sweater with long sleeves.  Next I folded the sweater in half and cut all the way up the front.

I tried using an iron on adhesive to finish the raw edges in front.  Here I ironed it on the edge and am removing the backing.

But when I tried to fold it over and iron it in place, it just wouldn't take.  I think it had to do with the weight of the fabric and the low temperature of the iron, but I was afraid to turn it up because the sweater is acrylic.

So I fixed it with this material that I cut and folded kind of like bias tape (but I didn't cut on the bias).

I'll have to save embellishments for another day.  In the mean time, anyone have an idea what to do with the sleeves that I still have folded up like I did in the picture above?