Make Your Own Lace Up Sweatshirt DIY

Have you ever had a craft supply keep calling to you until you decided to give in? I kept passing these oversized gold eyelets at the craft store and finally decided it was time to take them home and put them to good use. I’ve been super into the lace-up trend lately, so doing an oversized lace-up detail on a short-sleeve sweatshirt seemed like the perfect project for those cool spring nights before the summer heat fully kicks in. It’s so easy to do, and once you figure out how, you’ll want to do this to more than one item in your closet!

Supplies Needed

  • Sweatshirt
  • Fabric scissors
  • Extra-large eyelet kit
  • Hammer
  • 3/4″ wide shoelaces
  • Marking pen for fabric
  • Fray Check
  • Cutting mat, rotary cutter, and ruler (optional)
  • Medium-weight iron-on interfacing (optional)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step One: Prepare Your Sweatshirt

First, try on your sweatshirt and mark with a pin how far down you want your center cut to go. Since the bottom of the lace-up can be closed depending on how you tighten the strings, you can cut down a bit farther than you would for an open V-neck type t-shirt. Use scissors or a rotary cutter to cut a line straight down to your stopping point. Then, widen your cut into a “V” by cutting off the same amount from each side of your straight cut. The wider you make your “V,” the more open the lace-up can look. Cut in small increments and keep trying it on if you aren’t sure how far you want to go. I cut about 1/2” off each side on mine.

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Step Two: Add Support (Optional)

If your sweatshirt material is thinner than you would like and might need some help holding up the large eyelets, you can cut two 2” wide strips of fusible interfacing and iron them onto the back of where you’ll place your eyelets for extra support. This will give the fabric more stability and help the eyelets stay in place.