It always blows my mind how much money celebrities (or their stylists) will drop on an item that intentionally looks like it was pulled out of a throw-away bin.
One of the recent examples are the sweaters TOMORROW X TOGETHER have been wearing in some of the live dance performances for their hit “Déjà Vu.” They look like they were ripped apart accidentally and sewn back together in a hurry. I will refer to these as “Frankensweaters.”
They aren’t the first ones to do this. Distressed clothing has been popular for a while. There are all sorts of influential persons in both the performing and visual arts who love to wear torn-up sweaters and sweatshirts. One example has been shirts worn by BTS’s Jimin and Suga. Some fans looked up and found via a designer site for about 800,000 won. That comes to about $600… for a torn-up sweatshirt.
Now, I’m not judging their fashion style… I have worn “distressed” clothes myself. Sometimes because that is all I have clean to wear that day. It is a cool look. I am, however, slightly judging their budgeting skills.
I don’t care if you have all the money in the world, why would you pay three and four digits for a garment you can easily make with a thrift store find? That is exactly what I’m going to do for this easy DIY hack: make a “Frankensweater” from a thrift store find. I made some one-of-a-kind distressed K-Pop-inspired jeans not too long ago, so it is time to make a one-of-a-kind K-Pop-inspired “distressed” sweater.
I am going to use the TxT look as an example, as I’m pretty sure these are all custom. This way, you can use these as a jump-off point and go in your own direction.
First, hit a cool old thrift store and find a cheap sweater. It isn’t hard to find one for well under 10 dollars. Next, hit a craft of cloth store and find some heavy yarn or some cord that closely matches the color of the sweater—or that contrasts with it if you want the yarn to stand out. That’s also something you can get for under $10.
It is time to create your monster.
Start with the sleeves. Cut the sleeves off at different lengths, and use the yarn or cord to “hem” the cut-off ends. Next, use the yarn or cord to sew them back together but not too tight. You want the cut-off arm of the sleeve to hang a little separately from the sweater. You can use a simple plain stitch or try some cross or “X” shaped stitches… like Frankenstein’s monster or a voodoo doll.
Make a couple of extra slices throughout the sweater to give it a more aged look. Use some of the yarn to make a few stitches similar to those on the sleeve on a couple of the slots, just to add some texture.
Now get that hem around the bottom sliced up. Cut some long wedges zigzags out of the bottom, to make it look jagged or torn. Save those scraps you cut off for one final detail.
Take those edges and sew them back on in random places along the edge of the sweater or the arms of the sweater. Don’t let any of them go to waste.
That’s pretty much a trashed and repurposed sweater that is genuinely custom-made and one-of-a-kind.
If you think it is getting a little too hot, and don’t want to wait for “sweater weather,” try this with a sweatshirt or tee. Spending some creative time on something is often much more satisfying than spending too much money.
It doesn’t always have to cost a bunch to look like you spent next to nothing.
