The Sweatshirt Dress

This upcycle is super quick, and barely needs instructions. I wound up taking out the stitching because I made a mistake and sewed the skirt part on inside out! :( Sweatshirt dresses are huge this fall, but you don’t have to run out and buy a new one to take part in the trend. If you have twenty minutes to spare you can sew your own! I think this dress would look super cute with a huge patch pocket on the front, or even with a wider neckline and off the shoulder look.

Materials:

Sweatshirt

T shirt top that is approximately the same size and width

Sewing machine

Rotary cutter and mat or ruler, scissors and Sharpie marker

Optional

Pinking shears, eyelets and tool for attaching, bleach

Step One: Cut off the t shirt just under the armpits. If you want the dress to stretch, use a stretchy t shirt and sew with a narrow zig zag stitch. I set my machine to a 4 width/length when I sew knits. If your sweatshirt is not very stretchy you can use a woven fabric instead, or wide scarf or bandanas sewn together for the skirt.

Step Two: With right sides together, sew t shirt onto bottom of sweatshirt. If there is excess t shirt material, fold in the middle back or off center in front and make a pleat to even out the fabric.

Step Three: Add a pocket or widen the neckline with pinking shears last! Or even deconstruct the sweatshirt a little with some carefully places slashes or bleach. Another idea is to add some eyelets evenly spaced all over the front of the sweatshirt for a heavy metal look.

Step Three: Rock your new trendy sweatshirt dress!

Applique Your Sweatshirt Dress

Ok, so I bought some items of clothing last week and I am just totally let down by the things I got. I’m trying to upcycle my clothes instead, and my first upcycle completely bombed. :( It sucks when you have a closet full of clothes but nothing to wear. It can be so easy to just keep buying new things when the newness wears off from the things you acquire. But a more eco and super fun option can be to alter your clothes to turn them into pieces you are totally excited about! Going green does not have to be dreary and bleak, you can have fun along the way, learn some new life skills and figure out ways to live that totally jive with your values.

Last month I bought this sweatshirt dress and when I wore it my husband said it looked like a night gown. That is always the worst thing ever, when you are totally jazzed about something new and your partner doesn’t like it much. Instead of resigning this sweatshirt dress to dreamland, I leveled it up instead with some simple applique! Now I can’t wait to wear it!

Applique is really easy, and if you sew you have probably already tried it before. These patches can be sewn on by hand or machine, so even if you don’t have a sewing machine you can still do this upcycle. You don’t have to sew up to the edge all the way because the point is the fabrics will unravel a little on the edges to create a lived in look. Applique is so incredible for covering stains and holes on clothes. I actually did a similar project before with a holey black t shirt dress and muslin for leaves. It was my favorite item of clothing after that and I wore it all the time!

Here are a few tips for doing this project. It is pretty self-explanatory, but I did learn some things along the way.

1. You can use pretty much any fabric for the fabric leaves. Just make sure the color contrasts enough so that the leaves pop.

2. Pin the leaves onto the sweatshirt dress first before you sew! I just grabbed the pile of leaves and went to town, but had to go back in and add a few more to get a look I was happy with. If you pin them on first you will have a pretty good placement of everything before sewing. Once the fabric gets all bunched up at the machine, it can be challenging to see the overall design. So lay everything out first and pin with safety pins, then sew.

3. When you are sewing on the leaves, always try to keep the sweatshirt material flat around the leaf shape you are sewing. I was fighting the sweatshirt the entire time, because it kept bunching up around the needle. So just take your time, go slow, pull the fabric taut around the leaf as you are sewing and you will rock this!

I am so excited to wear this dress everywhere I go! Applique is a great way to level up a basic top or dress. This only took me about an hour to finish, and I’m off to enjoy my new look!

Stencil Some Weekend Jeans

I think a lot of women have that one pair of super baggy jeans…or at least one! I got these jeans but then felt really uncomfortable wearing them. I usually wear skinny jeans that are more fitted through the legs so these baggy jeans made me worry that the look wasn’t right. I was going to cut them up and turn them into scrap fabric, but then I realized that maybe they would work with a little love!

First, I grabbed a letter stencil and wrote a quote I love from a song by Shannon and the Clams. I had bought a bunch of strawberry patches and was waiting for the right project. Well lo and behold, the back pockets were the perfect spot! So I stitched them on with a needle and thread. I accidentally pricked my finger like a million times, but no worries! I’m ok! (I suck at sewing by hand and don’t have the patience to practice.). After that was done, I folded up the cuffs. It is so annoying when the cuffs roll down when I’m wearing them, so I tried a patch of fusible web. It would not stick the cuffs in place, so I sewed them down with my sewing machine and a wide zig zag stitch. Here’s a walkthrough in pics!

Exploring Patchwork Clothes

It just hit me like lightening! Patchwork and upcycling go so well together, they are like peanut butter to jam. A lot of my upcycling journey has focused around patchwork. I’ve worked patchwork into handbags, bell bottoms, tops and dresses. I’ve even gone as far as to turn some of my quilt tops into patchwork skirts! The truth is, if you love an alternative look in your clothes patchwork can be a strong design element. Check out some recent makes I have done with patchwork in the last couple of years, and scroll down for more ideas!

The Star dress by Kathryn Sturges

Checker board dress by Kathryn Sturges

Patchwork skirt made from a quilt top by Kathryn Sturges

Here are some ideas and tips for working patchwork into upcycles!

1. If you are upcycling a bunch of t shirts, try cutting them into squares or rectangles and create patchwork first. These can be worked into tops, jackets and dresses with sweet success. Another idea I love is to get a pattern for wide leg pants or yoga pants, and then use large t shirt squares to create the pants.

2. Try sewing panels of patchwork to create bell bottoms or to add into the side seams of pants. Additionally, panels of patchwork can work well in the side seams of jackets or on denim skirts. Panels of patchwork are also a great way to create the skirt portion of a dress, or skirts in general. Panels in dresses and skirts are so simple to make, especially if you create a template to work with.

3. When sewing with patterns, create a patchwork first and then use the pattern as you normally would. Be sure to use the proper weight of fabric for the pattern for best results, and if it is a skirt or dress you may want to line the piece with muslin.

4. Handbags are an awesome way to use some patchwork! Quilt the bags with a lot of stitching using thread that pops for a chic look.

5. If you have a stack of old quilt tops lying around and you know you will not finish them, turn them into skirts or jackets. Jackets look especially good when made with quilted fabric or even vintage quilts. One time I sewed a small quilt, but once it got quilted I just didn’t love the result. So I turned it into a large zipper bag and now use that to store my lingerie.

6. If you have a lot of scrap material, sew yardage of patchwork to have some ready for different projects. You can also do this with old clothes! Break them down into smaller pieces and whip them into patchwork by the yard so that you have patchwork ready when you want a new dress or skirt.

7. Corduroy is incredible for patchwork bags and bell bottoms! Go to the thrift store and gather up old corduroy pants and jackets to use in projects. Corduroy blends well with denim because it has a similar weight, and it is easy to cut down with just scissors because of the lines in the weave.