Seven AM, The Usual Morning Line-up... (Winter DIY Series)

As I said in my last post, I've had a lot of extra time on my hands during break.  Since I've hardly had any time to myself since the summer, I have a mile long list of DIY projects that I have wanted to complete.  I've actually impressed myself with how many projects I have tackled over the past three weeks and I am thrilled to share them with you.  These are all super simple projects that have only taken me a few hours at most; these are great for the beginner crafter to try.

First up, I created an upcycled sweatshirt based on Jessica Simpson's top in this photo:

I have had a basic light brown sweatshirt for a long time that I never really wear.  I got it at Forever21 about a year or so ago when it was on sale as a "yellow-tag deal".  As cozy as it is, I find it spending more time in my backpack than actually being worn because it fit a little oddly and was just too plain... don't get me wrong, I love basic neutral pieces more than most people, there was just something weird about this shirt.

But of course, I love my warm clothes and couldn't stand to see this warm shirt go to waste.  It reminded me of a blank canvas, and though I wanted to upgrade it, I wasn't quite sure how.  So I searched sweatshirt DIY projects on Pinterest and was pin-spired by a tutorial that I found on the blog Wobisobi for this Jessica Simpson top.  It seemed simple enough to try and complete in about a day at most, so I gave it a try.  I didn't follow the tutorial verbatim, so take a look at my project!!

First, I cut the neck out of my sweatshirt.

This step terrified me, since I am never good with  freehand drawing, especially with
fabric paint.  Luckily, my abstract "leaf" pattern turned out pretty well.  I filled in the
outline by spreading my fabric paint with a paintbrush, making sure to stay within the
lines.  (To make this step easier, you could pre-draw and and cut out a stencil made
 of poster board or cardboard with an exacto knife.)

I then created a similar design in the bottom corner of my sweatshirt.  I filled in the
design by spreading my fabric paint with my paintbrush again.  After I made sure
that the pain was evenly spread over my design, I let it sit for a few hours to dry.

When the paint dried, I used fabric scissors (you could use a sharp exacto knife)
to cut out the cutouts that I had predetermined in my design.  After shaving away
a few loose threads, I had my brand new sweatshirt!!

I hope you give this tutorial a try to dress up any old, boring sweatshirts you may have!

Until next time, my awesome readers :)

Love, Leaza