HOW TO MAKE A HOODED TUNIC DRESS

Adapted from Mike Gonzalez

of Mike & Chris

Time: About 40 minutes.

Materials: A men’s hooded sweatshirt size XXL, scissors, needle, thread and a piece of elastic one-quarter-inch wide and about 12 inches long.

1. Lay the sweatshirt flat on a table. About half an inch below the lower part of the armhole, cut the sweatshirt in half horizontally.

2. Turn the top half inside out. Take the elastic and lay it over your shoulder with one end starting at the side of your neck. Cut it off where your shoulder ends. Sew one end of the elastic to the neck opening on the sweatshirt and the other end onto the end of the shoulder. Then stretch out the elastic and while it’s stretched, sew the entire length of the elastic onto to the shoulder seam. After it is sewn down, the elastic should snap back so the shoulder is ruched when turned right-side out. Repeat for the other shoulder.

3. Take the bottom half of the sweatshirt and slip it on so it fits tightly around the rib cage. Grab the extra fabric in the back – this extra fabric will become the origami pleat. Sew the top of the pleat closed. Iron the pleat down, so the folds are nice and crisp and the effect looks intentional.

4. Connect the top to the bottom: With the top and bottom turned inside out, gather the top evenly so its raw edge aligns with that of the bottom (you will need to create little gathers so that the top will become as small as the bottom; they don’t need to be uniform). Pin the top and bottom together, right sides facing each other, and sew the seam. Turn right side out.

5. Make the sleeves: Measure about 6 inches from the top of the shoulder down the arm and about 4 inches from the underarm down the arm. Mark the spots, and cut the arm off on a diagonal line formed from these measurements (the angled slice makes a dolman sleeve). Fold the sleeve up, tuck the raw edge under to make a two-inch contrasting fleece cuff. Turn inside out and sew down the edge of the cuff (the bottom edge of the cuff should meet the armpit seam). Repeat for other arm. Turn right side out and wear as a dress or a tunic, with leggings and skinny jeans.