Fashion Flip | The Bandanna Sweatshirt

I recently came across this adorable sweatshirt.

With a not-so-adorable price tag of $148. So, I decided to make it myself. I made mine for $22! Here is how I did it.

I purchased an XXL sweatshirt from Target for $20. I liked the color, the feel, and the neckline looked like it would work well for this project. I purchase the two bandannas at Hobby Lobby for $1 apiece. (NOTE: You can make this Fashion Flip for even less, if you use a sweatshirt you already own, or get one at a thrift store or a store like Hobby Lobby, which sells them as blanks for projects.)

Since the shirt is an XXL, I had to shorten the sleeves. This is my kamikaze method of shortening sleeves. I pinned it at the length I desired at the cuff, turned the sleeve inside out,and sewed as close to the cuff as possible. Then I just cut off the excess. You can finish the edge with an overlock stitch or a serger.

Next, I took in the sides a bit for a slimmer fit.

Now for the sleeves! I placed the bandanna and used pins to get the points in the right place.

After that, I auditioned several ways to do this. I tried using KK 2000 to keep the bandanna in place (that didn’t work)

I tried pinning it down (no luck with that either).

Finally, I just decided I would do this improv-style (that’s the technical term for winging it).

I auditioned lots of threads and finally chose…..

white 🙂 – Sulky 30 wt. Cotton.

I used a zig-zag stitch to topstitch the bandannas down.

I started at the bottom of the sleeve and went as far as I could, then turned the shirt around and starting sewing from the collar.

I did end up using a few pins to keep it basically in place.

Fair warning: This is not a good project for the perfect sewist. The bandanna has to be loose on the sleeve, so there are several places that you are easing in the bandanna to the top of the sweatshirt. I tried to put any tucks in the section that would be covered up by the other end of the bandanna.

Ta-da!

This Fashion Flip took some fussing, but in the end, I really liked it! I definitely like the price tag of my version better than the one I saw online.

More importantly, my teenager daughter likes it! She wants one in purple so I guess I am off to the store for another sweatshirt and two more bandannas.

Do you have a Fashion Flip you would like to see me do? Let me know! Just go to the contact page on the blog and send me an email with a link. If I can Flip it, I will!

Happy Sewing!