Make Your Winter Wardrobe Sparkle With This No-Sew Sequin Sweater
New year, new me, right? Well this year, I’ve decided to inject my otherwise dark, neutral style with a bit of glitter. I rocked fellow B+C babe Misty’s sequin cardigan at last year’s holiday party, and I’ve been sold ever since. While doing a bit of research, I realized that sequin clothing (at the sheer volume of sequins that my heart desires) is crazy expensive! And for good reason: Sequins are individually and meticulously sewn onto garments. It was obvious to me that I needed to come up with a good all-over sequin hack.
Sequin fringe makes for glittery, eye-catching fun in any environment. It even glams up hot dogs (this is a scientifically proven fact).
This no-sew DIY is so easy you’ll wonder why you haven’t bedazzled everything in your closet (who’s in?). Plus, it’s the perfect way to update an old sweater in need of some lovin’.
Materials and Tools:
- sweater
- sequin strands (we used a variety of colors totaling to about 40 yards)
- scissors
- super glue
- cardboard
Instructions:
- Insert a scrap piece of cardboard inside of the sweater to keep the layers from sticking.
- Trim sequin strands to desired length.
- Add a dab of super glue to both ends of the sequin strand to secure them into place.
- Glue the sequin strands onto the sweater with a dab of super glue.
- Glue loose sequins in patterns above the sequins fringe for added interest.
- Trim the fringe for an even edge. Make sure to secure any trimmed strands with a dab of glue.
- Allow the sweater to dry for 1 hour before use.
Find a piece of cardboard roughly the size of the body of your sweater, and insert it between the two layers of material. This step is super important to ensure that you don’t accidentally super glue your sweater together!
The most important part of working with sequin strands is securing the individual sequins to the thread it comes on. Usually you’d buy sequin strands with the intention of removing the individual sequins to sew onto garments. In our case, we want to keep the strands intact. Do this by cutting your strand to size, and then dabbing a bit of super glue on both ends to anchor those sequins in place.
Dab a bit of super glue onto one end of the strand, and place it onto the sweater — then GO NUTS. The fringe looks best thick and layered, so we went about four layers deep.
As a finishing touch, place individual sequins (your workspace is bound to be covered in them by now!) in patterns around the fringe.
Trim any stragglers and make sure to add a dab of glue to the ends of any strands you trim. You wouldn’t want to lose all those pretty sequins!
Add additional strands to any patchy areas, and allow the sweater to dry for at least an hour before partying.
That’s it! With a little bit of patience, you can make this bad-ass glitter garment of your dreams in no time! As a disclaimer, this sweater won’t survive a machine wash, so spot clean as necessary.
Permission to get weird granted.
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DIY Production and Styling: Marianne Koo
Modeling: Alyssa Rusin
Photography: Kurt Andre
