DIY Upcycled Applique Sweatshirt

I’m not one to make New Year Resolutions. However, I do like to try to make a list of goals… what I want more or less of and I like to think about what little things I can do in my life that might have a big impact in the long run. This year, I decided to retry something that I started but didn’t complete last year (I only made it about halfway through last year, I’m not perfect!), I want to stop buying new clothes. There are a bunch of different reasons for this decision that I won’t bore you with but I also think it’s an important topic when it comes to what we can all do to live a more sustainable life. What this means to me is; more thrifting, buying second hand, clothing swaps and mending or up-cycling what’s already available to me. For this project, I wanted to show you how simple it can be to take a plain piece of second hand clothing and give it new life! Let me show you how I did it. 

P.S. – This was also the perfect project for me to get to know my new Oliso irons. If you’re joining us at Craftcation Conference 2020, you can test these awesome irons out since Oliso is our Official Ironing Station Sponsor! 

WHAT TO GET:

Iron (I used my Oliso Mini Project Iron. You’ll also see my Oliso Pro TG1600 Smart Iron in my photos.) 

Freezer paper (The kind that is wax on one side & parchment on the other, like this.)

Stitch Witchery or Fusible Bonding of your choice  (I used this one.)

Scissors

Pen/Pencil 

Scrap Fabric in whatever color/pattern you desire (100% cotton works best here) 

Thrifted and/or article of clothing you’d like to give some life back to. I found a mens sweatshirt for $3 at a thrift store. 

Optional: Sewing Machine 

WHAT TO DO:

1. Decide what shape or design you want your appliqué to be and draw it onto the parchment side of your freezer paper. I chose a simple rainbow design and freehanded the whole thing because I wanted it to have an imperfect look. Then cut out your pattern.

2. Place your pattern on the fabric of your choosing, wax side down, and iron over it with a warm iron until it sticks. I loved using my Oliso Mini Project Iron here, it was such a great size for this type of project! Once the pattern in secured to the fabric, cut it out and peel the pattern off, so easy right? Then I assembled my pieces to make sure I liked the layout before proceeding. 

3. Cut your stitch witchery to fit your pattern on the backside. Depending on the size of your pattern you could also use the kind of fusible bonding that comes in sheets or on a roll, but this is what I had on hand and it worked great for my smaller pieces of fabric. 🙂 Decide where you want the pattern to be and then follow the directions for the fusible bonding you’re using, mine said to use a cloth in-between and a hot iron set to wool. I repeated my steps to finish the other parts of the rainbow and ran the iron over it one last time to make sure everything was nice and smooth. 

4. This step is completely optional. The stitch witchery I used said it will hold even through washing/drying,  however I wanted to give it a bit of a different look by top stitching over each individual piece. You could also do this by hand sewing or embroidering, but again this is completely up to you.

And you’re done! Go out and wear your new creation with pride. 🙂 I love how simple and adaptable this project is. You could use this for a different form of visible mending to hide a hole/tear/rip/stain and would also be a great gift idea too!