Refasion It! The Embellished Sweater {DIY appliqué}

Last week I went bargain hunting for some easy weekend upcycling projects. (I wrote about it in my “When a Crafter goes Shopping” post and explained my “method” of selecting the clothes.)

Now it’s time to share my first finished project with you: the embellished sweater.
embellished sweater

embellished sweater


When I saw Trash to Couture’s post a few weeks ago, I wanted to try a knock-off project.
Unfortunately I didn’t have any nice appliqués, so I postponed the project.

But when I went shopping last week, lucky me found a nice top with a faux leather insert. When I saw it I immediately had to think of the Trash to Couture DIY sweater, so I bought it. I also found a matching anthracite-coloured sweater that was even cheaper than the top.

embellished sweater

embellished sweater

The faux leather insert wasn’t embroidered, which wasn’t that bad since I had the beads and everything to do it myself at home.

I have to admit, as easy as it was, you need to have patience. A. Lot. Of. Patience.
I am normally not very much blessed with patience, but after weeks of essay writing and other assignments it was a welcome change.

embellished sweater

I started with simply removing the faux leather from the rest of the top. The white fabric will be used for one of the next projects.

embellished sweater

After trying different combinations, I decided to use some dark blue, brown and champagne-coloured beads that matched the sweater as well as the gold-brown faux leather.

appliqué DIY

Appliqué DIYappliqué DIY

To explain the embroidering part: A picture is worth a thousand words. This is a copy of a page of Burda Magazine. I know, it’s German, but the pictures are pretty self-explanatory.burda embroidering instructions

I used the mannequin for pinning and basting the appliqué to the sweater.embellished sweater

embellished sweater

After basting I handstitched the appliqué onto the sweater. Then I cut the remainder of the sweater on the inside, leaving a small seam allowance, and finished the seam to keep the knitted fabric from fraying.embellished sweater

embellished sweater

I love how the sweater matches the petticoat I made a few months ago. Fortunately I still have some of the butterfly fabric left and will definitely make a pleated skirt out of it in the future.
embellished sweater

embellished sweater

 

16 thoughts on “Refasion It! The Embellished Sweater {DIY appliqué}

  1. I love this, you did such a good job! I am so happy you posted directions on how to do this, the Trash to Couture article didn’t give much information, so thank YOU! Do you know where I could find the faux leather inserts? Did you get yours at a craft store?

    1. Well you could either just buy faux leather at a fabric store and make the cut-outs yourself or, as I did, you could try find a shirt which has something similar on it and cut it off. I found mine at Primark. It used to be a white see-through top 🙂

  2. You are so so amazing! I love your blog. This embellished sweater rocked my world. I want one today! What a detailed work on all those small beads. I love this project so much, want to use your technique to make something similar. I cannot wait to read more posts. Not only I like your sewing tips, I like your style very much. 🙂

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