A few years ago I found this very cute Ralph Lauren sweatshirt in a thrift shop. Although it was a bit small for me, I fell in love with the print and decided to buy it with the intention of upcycling it into an oversized piece. The business of life forced me to shelve the idea until this week when I took a bit of time in my studio to work on the design and transform it into a beautiful upcycled hoodie. I thought it would be fun to share with you the design process that went into this transformation.
The top
I absolutely LOVE floral prints on jersey which is why I jumped at the opportunity to purchase this very cute Ralph Lauren top in a thrift shop. It’s most likely a summer sweatshirt with a 3/4 sleeve, wide neckline and cropped at the waist. It’s very cute as is, however I’m not a fan of snug sweatshirts. I figured this would be the perfect garment to upcycle.
Design ideas
Originally, I was thinking of using beige cotton/hemp french terry to enlarge the top. After photographing the top on my mannequin, I played around on my phone in annotations with ways I could incorporate the beige fabric to enlarge it. The images below show what this process looks like. I thought about leaving the neckline as it is, but since it would be worn in the winter time, I figured this would be too cold. I also liked the idea of adding contrasting red or orange embroidery stitching to the seams for added detail. However this idea would most likely prove too time consuming so was also put aside.
Fast forward 2 years and I returned to the drawing board with a new idea. I decided to use this super cozy grey cotton fleece that is a remnant of my daughter’s sewing project from school. The grey matches perfectly the leaves of the print and although it still works well as a colour block with the black background, it’s a softer combo than the beige french terry.
I sketched a couple ideas on how I could upcycle the sweatshirt like an oversized hoodie. An ucycled hoodie would have the benefit of being warmer in winter which is the type of garment that my wardrobe needs. I played with the idea of incorporating wide grey strips everywhere. However, after measuring how long it would be once I added the panels at the neckline, I decided to not add an extra panel at the bottom and keep it somewhat shorter to balance the added width.
The upcycled hoodie
Many hours of pattern making, cutting and sewing later, here’s the finished look of my new upcycled hoodie. I’m really happy with the outcome! It’s cozy, large and warm enough to be worn in the winter time. Which means it will get worn much more often than it would have in it’s original form.
I’m happy as well that I had just enough of the leftover grey fleece to cut all the pieces. These were remnants that were a bit too narrow to make a full size hoodie out of so would most likely have ended up in the recycling bin. Now that I’ve used up most of it, I only have a handful of waste fabric which I will use as stuffing.
Do you have a sweatshirt or piece of clothing that you love but is not getting worn? Contact me to chat about how we can transform it into something new.
Absolutely love what you have created here. Looks fab.
Thank you!