An old worn sweatshirt.................that I just love

for it's warmth and comfort..........has gotten a little shabby over the years.

 I just could not bear to toss it away.............so this week, I spent many hours and stitches, using my silk ribbons and beads............and brought my old sweatshirt back to life! If you have an old sweatshirt that you want to do the same to................get brave.............get your scissors...........and I will show you how!........................... Are you ready???

Start by cutting off the ribbed cuffs, bottom ribbed edge and top ribbed neckline............... and then cut right down the middle front in a very straight line................don't worry........it will look good .............afterwards.........you now have a "jacket" out of your sweatshirt.

Fold under the raw edges of  neck edge, cut front edges,  cut sleeves, and bottom............ and then sew a small hem line, either by hand or machine.

And now the fun part...........you have a blank canvas in front of you. Get creative. You can either applique, embroider or paint on your new jacket to cover holes or stains that might be there. I simply drew a round arch on the front of this sweatshirt and then let my imagination go wild. I have always loved silk ribbon embroidery and beads....................and decided that this is what I would use for this piece. You can find many wonderful books on silk ribbon embroidery and you can find the basic stitch instructions by surfing the  Internet.

I like to roll the sleeves up, however, the jacket looks just as nice with the sleeves unrolled.

I used oval pearl and shiny beads in clusters, and small seed beads to form small flowers. I also used seed beads for centers of embroidered daisies.

I embroidered various stems and then used seed beads as buds. The silk ribbon rose is basically a layer of stitched ribbon over and over.

I used different colors and shades of greens in silk ribbons for the leaves.

I got a little wild and trailed off with embroidered vines with little seed bead buds here and there.

Here it is!

 I placed a blouse underneath to show you how dressy it can be worn this way. I like to wear a light blouse underneath , making the sweatshirt jacket not too hot to wear. It's soft and comfortable and pretty.

I hope you try this.............if you do...........let me know and post pictures............will you!

Let me know if you used paint, applique, embroidery or some other technique.

I can't wait to hear!