Do you want to make your own sweatshirt? Do you know where to start? Are you crazy about DYI and always looking for tutorials and great ideas to expand your horizons? If you answered questions one and three in the affirmative, with two in the negative, we’ve got ten really good projects lined up for you. They will help you update an otherwise bland and boring piece of clothing in your closet—the comfortable, good old sweatshirt.
1. From Oversized Sweatshirt to Top
You might want to make your own sweatshirt, but you might also want to get rid of an old sweatshirt, or update it into a more modern clothing item. It’s simple to modernize a sweatshirt—all you need is a pair of scissors and to know where and how to cut. Chop off the sleeves and also cut the shirt at the hem. Bare your midriff if you want. In a couple of minutes you’ll have your very own cute top, which you can pair with leggings or jeans and wear out on the town when you go dancing.
2. Swarowski Sweatshirt
If you want to make your own sweatshirt and pepper the design with a bit of snazziness, designer Peter Som suggests you glue on some Swarowski crystals to the shirt front. Take a long-sleeve sweatshirt, cut off the sleeves and hem them. Then use fabric glue to add a pattern of Swarowski crystals to the surface. The result will be sparkly, cute, and ready for a fun night out on the town.
3. Sweatshirt Blazer
It’s actually much easier than it seems to make your own sweatshirt blazer. Cut down the front and right above the hem. Pleat the two sides and sew on the collar. Then add a method for closing the blazer. The model featured here employs a brooch, yet this can prove quite tricky because of the many pleats of material. The designer used a crew neck sweatshirt, but all other models will work as well.
4. Sweatshirt Tee
This is an alternative method on how to make your own sweatshirt tee. It starts with a regular sweatshirt, whose sleeves you need to cut off. Fold over the short sleeves and sew them inside out. You can then choose to embellish the design as you see fit—with brass buttons, faux pearls, studs, or whatever best suits your style.
5. Alexander McQueen-Inspired Skeleton Sweatshirt
Inspired by a famous design by the late fashion genius Alexander McQueen, the Skeleton Bones Sweatshirt is ridiculously easy to make. You start off with the regular sweatshirt, to which you need to add a stenciled design in glitter. Use the skeleton ribcage model, or invent your own, add lots of glitter, then step out in style for a regular night on the town, or for a DYI clad Halloween.
6. Woven Sweatshirt
You can make your own sweatshirt out of two old articles of clothing which you no longer wear. It’s easy, it’s a very thrifty project and requires no extra supplies except for pins, a ruler and a sewing machine. Cut the back of the main sweatshirt into two inch strips. Don’t detach the strips and stop right before the ribbing at the bottom. Turn it inside out and weave the stips with two inch strips from your second sweatshirt. Pin them, cut off the extras and then sew the whole thing up. And you’re done!
7. Wildfox Couture Inspired Sweatshirt
This DYI project also only uses a stencil, fabric glue and glitter. Take a basic sweatshirt and then design your stencil pattern. Trace the stencil on the sweatshirt on the front and center side of the shirt, then add glitter. Make sure you place a newspaper sheet in between the two sides of the sweatshirt, so that they don’t become stuck. The design needs to dry out overnight, making it ready to wear the very next day.
8. Sweatshirt Turned Laptop Sleeve
This extremely ingenious project requires no cutting, no thread, no needles and no know-how in general. All you need is an old sweatshirt, which you don’t plan to wear anymore, and close attention to the instructions above. Fold and tie according to the images. You’ll be ready to go to work in about ten minutes. The question remains, however, about how strange it will look to unpack your laptop form a sweater, though…
9. Sweatshirt with Ribbon
Sweatshirts are usually not very figure flattering. However, if you have a pair of scissors, some thread and a sweatshirt lying around the house, it’s very easy to turn an otherwise dowdy article of clothing into a sexy, form-hugging design. Just punch holes into the lower back area of the sweatshirt. Run the thread through the holes, much like you would with a shoe. The resulting item will be much sexier than your worn-out old sweatshirt.
10. Lace Trim Sweatshirt
With just some pins, scissors and lace trim you can update a grey woolen sweatshirt into a design that’s fit for the runway. This DYI project was inspired by the Jason Wu autumn 2011 collection and the original item costs $1,195 in stores. However, you can get it for about 100 times less. Just pin the lace to the sleeves, trim it into a pattern of your liking and sew it on. Whoever said cheap has got to be unappealing?
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