Sweater Dress Makeover – From Drab to Fab in 30 Minutes

Transform a plain sweatshirt or sweater dress just by adding a sequined sew-on patch – It’s easy to get a designer look on a budget with this simple dress makeover.

I don’t tend to shop for new clothes very often, mostly because I get lots of wear from what’s already in my wardrobe, and partly because I often just can’t find clothes that I really love (in my price range).

I usually opt for purchasing pre-loved whenever I can, sometimes I make my own (but not that often lately), and occasionally I’ll buy basics from a store when I know that I’m going to wear them forever-and-a-day.

I’m not a cookie cutter fashion kind of girl, so even when I buy new clothes I like to accessories and mix and match with vintage or handmade fashion, just to keep things a little eclectic.

For ages I’ve wanted a grey marle fleece dress to lounge around in. I’ve been planning on sewing one up for a while with this  free pattern from Peppermint magazine, but just haven’t found the time.

Then I found one on sale at Sportsgirl which was super comfy, so I lashed out and bought it. (I actually think it’s the first new item of clothing I’ve purchased for myself this year – golly!) – Here’s a similar  grey sweatshirt dress on Amazon.

But because I’m me, it needed extra jazzing it up with some extra sparkle, and I had the perfect addition – a sequined eye patch that I picked up at a vintage store earlier this year.

I’ve been waiting for the perfect garment to sew it onto, and this grey sweater dress fits the bill perfectly.

It only took me around 30 minutes to makeover this dress from DRAB to FAB!

Try this Easy Dress Makeover

I thought this sequined eye sew-on patch was vintage (it looks kind of deco inspired), but it turns out  you can buy it and other  similar eye patches on Etsy – here’s a few if you are interested.

Left /  Middle /  Right

How to applique a sequin patch onto a plain top or dress



You will need:

  • Plain sweatshirt, t-shirt or  sweater dress
  • Sequined sew-on patch – mesh backed its best – Iron-on ones can be a bit stiff and hard to sew on.
  • Pins
  • Measuring tape
  • Sewing machine with matching thread (or if hand sewing, needle and thread)

How to:

1. To position your patch you can either measure it’s placement with a measuring tape, or just put on your garment and decide where you want your patch to sit. Pin it carefully with one or two pins just to mark it’s place.

2. Once you’ve taken off your garment, add extra pins to make sure it’s fixed securely and won’t move around when sewing.

3. Sew around the edges of patch carefully with your sewing machine or by hand, removing the pins as you go.

Now it’s ready to wear! It’s really one of the easiest garment makeovers ever and it really elevates the look of this outfit. I wore it out the other day and so many people asked where I got it from.

One girl thought it was by the designer Kenzo, which did a range of sweaters with big eyes on them. I think whoever made these sequined patches was heavily influenced by the Kenzo eye design.

I mainly wear it for lounging around in, but add some skinny jeans and a fun pair of shoes and I’m ready to party!

You may also enjoy these easy clothing makeovers:


The patch is pretty robust, I’ll just make sure to turn the dress inside out when washing.


I love my eye sweater dress, it’s going to get a lot of wear this spring. Now it’s time to glam up your old sweatshirts with a fun sew-on patch too. Go on, EYE dare you!

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My Poppet Makes
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 2 comments
  • Pim29201499 Pim29201499 on Sep 11, 2021

    I”m more interested in how she did the sleeves. Or, was the top purchased with the shirted sleeves? Stretchable?

    • My Poppet Makes My Poppet Makes on Sep 12, 2021

      The top had ruffled sleeves when I purchased it. Actually later I removed the ruffling to shorten and make the sleeves regular.

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