Make it. Applique April Showers Sweatshirt DIY

I love giving a new lease of life to old garments that I love that just need a little TLC. Using Bondaweb and some fabric scraps to create your own unique appliqué design is a great way to revive any old t-shirt or sweatshirt or usually in my case, to cover up an unsightly stain! 

I used an old sweatshirt that I had taken a motif off a while ago, it has been in the top of my wardrobe for ages and I thought it would be perfect for a little April shower update.

You will need: an old sweatshirt, Bondaweb/fuseable web, a fabric scrap, vanishing pen, scissors, an Iron, your sewing machine and a free embroidery (darning foot) or a needle and some embroidery thread. 

Start by ironing your bondaweb to your fabric scrap. Lay it face up over the area of the sweatshirt you want to cover. Use your vanishing pen to draw the shape you want onto your fabric. I drew a cloud and some raindrops. Keep lifting your fabric to make sure you are covering up the mess underneath. 

Once you are happy with your shapes cut them all out, if you want to keep them in the same position that you drew them in, lay them out on a flat area as you go.

Lay your sweatshirt out flat, peel off the backing paper from your bondaweb and place all your pieces down onto your jumper. Go in with your iron and press down firmly, then lift and move to the next section - you don't want to disturb your layout by running your iron back and forth. Now you are ready to stitch down your design.

I used my sewing machine and free embroidered around all the shapes multiple times, but you can easily hand stitch around your shapes with some decorative thread.  I would suggest that you do one or the other, in order to make the garment last longer, bondaweb is not strong enough on it's own to hold all the pieces on through the wash. Once you have stitched all your pieces in place go over and snip away any stray threads from the front and back of your design.

And there she is, an old sweatshirt with a new lease of life.

Sammy xxx

We would love to see if you have a go at this. Like with all our DIY's if you do, take a picture and share it with us on Twitter or instagram with the hashtag #livelovemake