DIY Topshop ombre embellished sweatshirt

Just the other day at work I called my boss 'dude'. I'm [very] ashamed to admit this... but it happened, and I'm pretty sure he heard me. He let it slide. Thank goodness. Seriously though, who calls their boss 'dude'? Who calls anyone 'dude' anymore?! It's a word I seriously need to remove from my vocabulary. (I have a running list of dorky words that need removal, don't judge...) This is relevant to my arts and crafts though, promise. Because don't you ever see something for like $75 and go like, 'dude! I could make that for $8.34!' I do. All the time. (And then a week later I usually have spent way more than I should have and I have half of whatever I set out to make finished, and have given up indefinitely.)

This Topshop sweater definitely inspired a 'dude!'. It has DIY written all over it. Better yet, this is an approachable DIY! I got all my needed goodies at Walmart for under $15 (sweatshirt $10, dye $2.50, jewels $1.97) -- except my rhinestone glue which is from Hobby Lobby, but I just had lying around.

The process was super simple, what I did was:

1. follow the instructions for making the dye and mix it in a large bowl or a small trashcan.

2. Get your sweatshirt wet with warm-hot water

2. Creatively suspend your garment so the bottom can rest in the dye. The moisture will allow the dye to travel upwards, creating a bit of an ombre effect. To help it along, I let the bottom rest in the dye a long time, and then gradually lowered it so there were 'levels' of saturation.

3. Once the bottom has been in the dye about 20 minutes, transfer your sweatshirt to the washing machine and wash solo. (And make sure the next batch of clothes you run isn't white-- I've never had any problem dying my whites with residual dye, but I don't want to be the responsible party for your newly pastel socks and panties.)

4. Dry the sweatshirt, and then apply the rhinestones or studs on the shoulders. If you're using fabric tack glue like I did, allow at least 24 hours before rocking your new sweatshirt. If you are a crafter extraordinaire and hand-sewed on your jewels, it's time to rock your new threads asap.

Overall, this was definitely one of my more successful DIYs. The supplies were pretty easy to find, and I managed to get them all pretty cheap-- better yet if you have an old sweatshirt lying around, you could transform it into this jazzy number for less than $5 (and save a sweatshirt tree).