How To Make A Thrifted Sweatshirt Awesome!

I wrote this tubular post as part of a sponsored campaign with Tulip and The Blueprint Social. All opinions in this post are totally my own. Righteous.

Do you remember the distinct pleasure of using Tulip® Dimensional Fabric Paint (otherwise known as Puff Paint) to accessorize everything during the 80’s? I had almost forgotten (aka. blocked out) just how many t-shirts and sweatshirts my mom made for my sisters and I until…

 I received a copy of the vintage idea book Tulip released in the 80’s and every single page looked familiar! My mom had the exact same booklet when I was a kid and I must have spent hours looking at it, imagining what masterpiece I would wear next. Of course, I couldn’t just leave it at that, there had to be proof.

After only a couple hours of looking through old family pictures, I finally found a picture of my younger sister wearing a sweatshirt identical to the design on the idea book. “Excited” doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt! Never mind that I’m wearing a candle wreath on my head or that my sisters are decorating me like a Christmas tree, Adriana is totally rocking the best sweatshirt ever. (And no, contrary to what it might seem, I have not had braces on for the last 25 years!)

Ok, so how would you update Puff Paint for modern day use? How about using it to make over a thrifted sweatshirt for your kid?! I know we’ve all come across clothes while thrifting that you wish didn’t have a certain image or something. Now you can fix it!

How to Cover a Design on a Thrifted Sweatshirt

Materials:

• Tulip® Soft ® Fabric Paint
• Tulip® Dimensional Fabric Paints
• Thrifted Sweatshirt
• Design or Pattern

1. Find a thrifted sweatshirt. I’ve got nothing against the girl (iCarly?) pictured on mine but what if your daughter just couldn’t stand her? It would be a shame to pass it up because the sweatshirt was in great condition and didn’t smell funny so…let’s fix it!

2. Use a pre-made stencil or print and cut an graphic that will cover the sweatshirt image almost entirely. Buh bye, iCarly.

3. Use a disappearing ink marker to transfer your desired design. The color of my sweatshirt was too dark so I had to use just a regular ball point pen, which worked out fine but did bleed through the white paint so be careful.

4. Use the Tulip® Soft ® Fabric Paint to paint the majority of your design. This will allow the sweatshirt to bend and be more comfortable. I totally remember wearing t-shirts that had so much paint on them, it felt like you were wearing a cardboard on your chest! I know we all want more for our kids so don’t do that. 🙂

5. After you have applied a few coats of the Tulip® Soft ® Fabric Paint and allowed them to dry completely, start coloring in the accent pieces with Tulip® Dimensional Fabric Paints. Go slow and pray for no air bubbles!

6. Once all the paint has dried completely, use the steam from an iron or blow dryer to puff up the Tulip® Dimensional Fabric Paints. Mine didn’t puff up too much but they did get more of a matte finish which I liked.

Congrats! You have officially made your sweatshirt awesome!

Puff Paint not your thing? Stop by Tulip and celebrate with their Tie Dye Your Summer event. With over 300 ideas and a Summer iPad and Tulip Prize package to win, you’re sure to have fun! Don’t forget to keep up to date on the latest happenings from Tulip by following them on all social media outlets.

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Check out more fun Totally Tulip ideas:

And for all of you who made it to the bottom of the post, a special treat straight from the 80’s!