I don’t really care for pullover sweatshirts. To me they are not that comfortable as they are mostly made for people taller than I am, and tend to bunch up on my shorter torso. I much prefer a cardigan style, and wear sweaters like that most of the time. But when I wanted to have something with our MINI club logo to wear on outings, the only choice (other than a thin t-shirt) was a sweatshirt. These were ordered for our group before lockdown, and I got mine at a dinner last February. It has sat in my closet ever since, as there was no motivation to do anything with it. Now that there is light at the end of the tunnel for maybe getting to do some drives soon, I decided it was time to get it out and turn it into a jacket so I could wear it. All you need to do one is a sweatshirt and a separating zipper. Measure the front of your sweatshirt to find the zipper length you need.
The hardest part of this project is getting the cutting line right. Begin by laying the sweatshirt flat on the cutting table, and put a pin in both sides at the bottom to mark the left and right points. There aren’t seams to go by, so be sure your shirt is flat and straight.
Look inside the neck and find your shoulder seams. Meet those together and pin.
Lay the sweatshirt back down, smooth the neckline to find the exact center between the pins in the front. Place a pin at that point.
Meet the side pins at the bottom, and again put a pin at the exact center in the front.
Lay the sweatshirt flat again and smooth it. Place a long ruler on the pins, and mark a cutting line with chalk.
Check to be sure you are happy with the line, that it is centered well and straight.
Take a deep breath, and carefully cut on that line with a pair of shears or good scissors.
Lay the zipper on top of the cut in the orientation that is correct, teeth together, and separating the bottom.
Now, on each side, flip the zipper over to meet the raw edge of the sweatshirt to the edge of the zipper tape. Pin in place
Put a zipper foot on the machine. Sew the tape to the sweatshirt just inside the raw edge, about 1/4-inch.
When you get near the bottom on the side with the slider, pause with needle down.
Lift the presser foot and move the slider to the other side of the foot. Lower the presser foot and continue sewing to the end. Sew the tape to the other raw edge in the same manner.
Now, turn the zipper to the inside, tucking the raw edge under as tight as you can. Pin.
Sew in the ditch to enclose the raw edge. Repeat for the other side.
And that is it! The advantage to this method is when you aren’t using the zipper, it naturally folds to the inside creating a tailored edge on the jacket.
It is hard to see, but at the bottom, there is a nice corner and a smooth edge all the way up the center.
One more photo with a flash so you can see the finished project.
Now I have club attire I’ll actually wear and enjoy. Maybe the next one will have some patchwork on it too. Have you ever made a sweatshirt jacket?
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From My Carolina Home 
Beautiful job. I also do not enjoy wearing pullover sweatshirts, but they are warm. A perfect solution.
That zipper application is genius and takes that sweatshirt up a notch. Thanks for sharing your method!
Great idea!
Good Morning ☀️🌞😃 Carole – thanks soooo much for those Sweatshirt Conversion instructions. Mac and I both appreciate the warmth of said sweatshirts, but not the confinement. So as soon as I get home to the sweatshirts, I plan to fix them.
At the moment we are enjoying some getaway family time here on HHI. Mac’s 2 sisters have joined us. We are enjoying Long Beach walks. Today will see what some of the Thrift Shops have to offer.
Have a blessed day – Claire
I feel the same way about sweatshirts Carole – they just never fit me right. That’s a great idea to turn it into a jacket. Thanks for the great pictures. I feel like I could do this. Your jacket turned out great. I hope you can get back to your drives again soon!
I follow the same steps but add a quilt fabric placket. I use fusible interfacing and then sew to raw edge of each side. I use my embroidery machine to decorate the sweat shirt. Twenty years ago I added patchwork to decorate the sweat shirts. If shirt is slightly small, this makes it wearable.
Thank you for the tutorial on putting the zipper on a sweatshirt. One question: Did you do anything special to finish the ends, both top & bottom? I’m a dolt when it comes to attire sewing. Hope you can get out on the road soon! It’ll be a new-found freedom once again!
I am going to do this to one of my favorite sweatshirts that was a gift. I just don’t look good in the pullovers, and I would mostly wear them open anyway. Thanks!
Several years ago it was very popular to make a patchwork jacket from a sweatshirt. I actually made one. I still have patterns somewhere for them! Yours looks great!
Thank you. I need to try that with some of my pull overs.
This is a great solution to an aggravating problem. Most times sweatshirts make me look and feel “lumpy”, and with my internal furnace raging at will these days, I like some thing I can change out of quickly. The vertical line of the zipper is more stylish, too, imho. I just love it that you think of solutions to what bothers you about something and not just quit on a problem. 🙂
I used to do this for my MIL as she was short and did not care for the way they would bunch up on her. She lived in Wisconsin and there are many days when a sweatshirt was needed to stay warm. Our Ben Franklin store held a class on how to do this and it was very much what you showed. They always turned out great and sometimes we would add a little applique to hers to spruce up the plain colors. Yours looks great and I know you will enjoy being to zip or unzip it depending on the weather.
I have used this idea on several sweatshirts. I find the neckline on pullovers too confining. The zipper will also work for sweatshirts with a hoddie.
I made patch pockets for most of the sweatshirts as I like to have a place for my keys and credit cards.( I never carry a purse) I used six inch squares mostly from panels for my pockets.
I’m happy you posted the instructions for others to use.
Years ago, are they coming back? I would like that if they did.
Back in the day when decorating sweatshirts was the bomb, we made every design known to mankind, and Tulip paint became a real BFF. Once that phase had passed, and it took several years, the beloved sweatshirt was still around and needing a different kind of attention. Along came a booklet by Kansas Troubles, I think, with lots of smaller decorated quilt items. One of those items was a sweatshirt-turned-jacket. Instructions had you cut off all the ribbing, and trim off the squared center neckline to a rounded style. Next you put facing and fusible interfacing along the front for stability, and with a bias binding, finish around the neck and front. The top neckline turned back and was then held in place with cute buttons. The sleeves had a cuff with a buttonhole closure. For the one I made, I chose off white and washed it a couple of times so that it would shrink and also the inside would begin the pilling process that always happens. Only in this case, this is the look I wanted, as I was going to use this now-textured side as my right side, giving it the look of boiled wool. In those days, everything had something on it – some piece of appliqué and such; mine has trees and snowmen and I used homespun bias binding for the trim. It was and still is one of the most appealing styles of sweatshirt redesign I’ve ever seen.
Nicely done Carole. Your instructions are always so clearly written. I think this is something even a novice “garment sewer” like me could tackle. I’ve seen some big chunky colorful zippers being sold on line and that might be fun too in a color that matches your club logo. I spend all winter wearing zip hoodies, fleece jackets and sweaters in our drafty old house.
I am always blown away by what you come up with and create. This is awesome.
Thank you Carole for this wonderful way to add a zipper! I am not a sweatshirt girl either but I do appreciate the warmth they provide. I must try this!!!!
Great post, Carole! I hate sweatshirts too, for all the reasons you gave AND taking it off and putting on to moderate the heat does nothing good to my hair either! Very clever of you. And now you have your car club logo garment and bet there will be some discussion at your next event (if held in cooler weather) as to how you did it! When we worked outside, I only ordered zippered hooded sweatshirts, but often they were a bit hard to find. I am looking at my husband’s favorite hooded zippered sweatshirt as he walks past me, with a worn binding along the zipper and wonder if I should redo it with a new zipper…hmmm. I also have a couple sweaters in the same boat…they woud be so much nicer as a cardigan. I wonder… Probably would need to stitch the front before cutting to keep the yarn from unraveling?
My guild had the patchwork sweatshirt weekend class several years ago and some lovely jackets were made.
I very rarely buy or wear sweatshirts for the same reason as you. This is a great solution for you to get use out of a nice logo sweatshirt. Thanks for the tutorial.
I’ ve made a sweatshirt jacket…..many yrs ago…..and it was a VERY arduous task! Never again…..now I think I may actually try again. Yours is much simpler and the results are great!!!
Thank you for sharing!
I really need this. I have an oversized sweatshirt that I wanted go convert, but havd been afraid to cut into it. Thanks!
Never made one but that turned out great! Looks really good, and way less slouchy than sweatshirt!
Very impressed with the illustrations regarding the conversion of the sweatshirt to a more useful and professional looking jacket. I recall in the 80’s, several ladies were creating similar converted sweatshirt jackets. Some variations included lace trims, sequins, patchwork pockets, etc. but very time consuming to make and some outright gaudy! Your explanation and illustrations of inserting a more tailored zipper is fabulous! I am looking forward to trying your method and add a patchwork pocket.
I too am short, 5′ tall… but I have plenty of attitude… I hate sweatshirts. So blucky and heavy. But your idea is great and I shall turn a bunch of them into jackets as you have done. But here in AZ the weather doesn’t get very cold for any lenght of time. But every now and thenthis jacket would be the perfectticket. Thanks a bunch. Cyber hugs for you.
Well done! I need to do that too. I hate pullover sweaters and sweatshirts. With frequent temperature changes I need to get stuff on and off quickly!
I love it! I would probably really mess this up for sure
Yep, made a couple. I do advocate washing it first as sometimes they twist or shrink. Then as the Red Queen said “Off with their cuffs! Off with the horrid bottom binding.” I use swimsuit fabric as bias binding, loosely added on the bottom and sleeves. What fun we had with these! Love the tutorial on the zipper. I have become a devotee of the 2 way zipper. I can open it when I get it the car but still need to be a little bundled. Or when I have to bend over to retrieve the “gifts” my dog leaves at the park. Thanks for sharing. Always great ideas!
This looks great! We had a class one of our guild members taught on how to fancy sweat shirts up by adding fabric to the bottom, sides, and adding patchwork. Fun project!
This is genius, Carole! I used a sweatshirt as a foundation for a patchwork jacket last summer, but much prefer those that have zipper fronts.
Thanks for this zipper tutorial, Carole! I have made many quilted jackets over the years, but left the majority with no closures. This might just have me keeping more of the chill out!
Nifty hack! So nice that you’ll enjoy wearing it now.
What a perfect way to get the style you like to wear!
Thanks for sharing your tutorial at Vintage Charm!
I love this! I hate hoodies but love sweatshirts, but not over the head…fussy aren’t I? This is a definite go to tutorial. Thanks for linking up. Long ago I did do a quilted sweatshirt jacket, but I used a sweatshirt that was a little small, I do believe I ignored the go to advice for a larger size. I also like pockets, would be the other thing I would want to add!
Clever makeover of a pullover sweatshirt, Carole!!! I’m keeping this in mind.
Hello Carole, Like you I’m also short waisted and only 5’ tall so I have some of the same problems as you. Several years ago ahile in Warm Spring I bought the sweetest tee shit and sweat shirt to match but never did make the sweat shirt into a jacket like I had planned to do but now with this info I can perhaps pull this out of the closet and fix it to wear. The design of the set is an angel and is a cupid style .The background color is an ivory and the design is in maroon to lighter pinks so this will be a great spring time project to work on and have ready for the fall. I’m so Happy to be going thru all these e-mails and finding a lot of treasures. Down to about 103 messages left, what a task this has been but I didn’t want to miss anything, just like a child, right? Have a great weekend and stay safe. Thank goodness we have our hobby! Phyllis
Do you do anything to the neck? Does it hang well without doing something to it?