Make It: Gorman-Inspired Print Hoodie

There's little I love more in my wardrobe than a good hoodie. Zip-up or pullover, lightweight or thick, they all have a use and a place in my heart. So when I saw an amazing triangle-print crew neck floating around Pinterest recently by the Australian brand Gorman, I drooled, I ogled, and I found out it was not only no longer made, but about $150 originally anyway.

Nope.

But it got my wheels turning, and inspiration struck: Sponges. One shopping trip later (Target and Michael's), and I was home with everything I needed.

I played around with paper first, figuring out how large I wanted my triangles to be, then simply traced the pattern onto a sponge, and sliced with a ruler and an X-acto knife. Stamps: Created.

Queued up the Project Runway and Fashion Police on dvr, stuffed my hoodie with an old torn apart shoebox, and away I went.

painter's palette = plate covered w/foil

Slip cardboard inside to protect from paint seepage!

Due to dry time (about an hour+), I ended up finishing the next day in a few spurts: Each side, then the back. My protective cardboard inserts collected any paint seepage, and those were dry by that time too so I could re-use them as I flipped the shirt around from section to section.

Just when I thought I was ready to show off my creation to the world, I realized just how ugly the inside of that hood looked from the paint seeping through. Ack! But easily fixed: A scrap of soft gray waffle knit in my remnant pile was pinned in place, and a couple runs of the sewing machine* was all it took to be problem solved.

The finished product was official:

The Gorman version is oh-so-much chicer and more beautiful in every way (which is as it should be for the price), but I'm pretty stoked with my results. A cozy hoodie that I can throw on and look like I tried - at least a little bit - is what I was going for, and I think I got exactly that. DIY success!

Cost breakdown:
Hoodie: Target men's department, on sale, $8.49 (orginally $12)
Paints: Michael's, $1.99 each ($8 total)
Sponges: Target, pack of 4 for $1.75-ish (and I only used one)
Total Cost: About $18



*I'm happy to break down this hood lining process further if anyone's ever interested. I developed it myself, and it's quite easy and can really change the look of a basic hoodie. I've done it a lot - No pattern-making skills required! Let me know.