Upcycling is Slow, Documenting is Slowest

In 2025, I did many upcycling projects that were not pictured and I will do my best to document a few of them here. One project is hard to describe in that is not a one-and-done. I have been slowly adding to and augmenting a particular sweatshirt since I bought it used in 2020.

I immediately didn't like the way it was open at that back, with two curved panels overlapping, so I sewed them together to make a smooth, continuous back panel. Because the main color is white, it stains easily. So this piece became my experiment in what I call "distracting the eye from stains." Sometimes I can't just sew a patch or embellishment over a stain because it will end up in a strange place that I don't want people's eyes drawn to. So I began adding bright patches in a way that fit the grid that was already provided by the manufacturer of the garment (Anthropologie). I trusted that people's eyes would be drawn to the bright patches and away from faint stains, which didn't seem as much of a problem to me the further I got into changing this garment.

To be honest, I can't remember which patches I added most recently to keep distracting from stains. I think it is the three diagonal ones right under the pocket. All of the patches are from discarded t-shirts and other garments that fell into the upcycling bin at some point.

I love this sweatshirt because of the silhouette and how it works with a lot of my other clothes. I will keep patching it as long as I can.