How to Give your Sweatshirt a Modern Look..... or

How to update an old sweatshirt....  There was a movie back in the 70's/80's, (I think), called Flashdance.  The main character, (Jennifer Beal), always wore this cut up sweatshirt.
With all the gorgeous monograms that are being stitched onto sweatshirts, I thought I'd walk you through how to give it an updated feel....
If you are anything like me, I HATE SWEATSHIRTS! Well unless I can do something with them. LOL... But just a plain sweatshirt, I think is UGLY.... It might be warm and comfy, but they are BUGLY.....
Bear with me as I show you a HOW TO with these photos of two different sweatshirts. (This post was really a whim that I thought others might like.

Supplies:  Sweatshirt, sharp scissors and either sewing machine, needle and thread, or fabric glue.

Take your sweatshirt and with your sharp scissors, cut your neckline.  There are two ways to do this.  You can either cut the neckline by following the "stitches" around the neck, or you can cut between the stitches around the neck.  Here is a sample of both. The green (below) shows where I've cut BETWEEN the stitches. This leaves a non-stretched edge.

 

The Gray shirt shows the cut along the outer stitches which will give a looser neckline and it will give or stretch a little more than the other....

 

 

Next you will do your sleeves

 

 

Then the band around the waist

 

 

So now you have a pile of cut off pieces.  But DON'T throw them away, keep them in a place that is handy to use when finishing other projects that need knit cuffs....

 

So once you have finished doing all that cutting.  Whew! That wasn't too bad, was it?  You are now ready to finish your seams.  This can be done either on a machine, hand tacked or fabric glue.  I normally do a hand tack b/c it's just as quick, really... You just want to thread your needle and give it about 3 or 4 whip stitches back and forth.  (If you don't know how to do this and don't have a machine, NO PROBLEM, don't panic.... get some fabric glue and just glue your cut edge where your seam is.) This just prevents it from coming unraveled....

 

 

Now you have a beautiful modern and updated look for your sweatshirt.  You can do this to a bought shirt with a design like the green shirt, or embellish it for yourself, or monogram on it like the gray shirt.... Sky's the limit with these cool shirts....

 

 

They are just soooo comfortable and easy to do and really look quite classy if you wear an oxford shirt under it or a sleeveless lacy shirt...   I hope you will try this.  Please let me know if you did and how easy or hard it was, or if I left out a step that you might find easier, then be sure to leave a comment about it.  If you like these instructions, feel free to PIN IT.