Quick Craft! -- How to Undorkify a Sweatshirt

I've never been much for sweatshirts. The collars always seem too tight and the cuffs are too....cuffy? But lately I've been finding some really comfortable sweatshirts that look a little more flattering, such as this Lands End tunic:

Although $30 isn't a lot for a sweatshirt, a craft challenge was calling my name. Could I take a dorky thrift store sweatshirt and make it cool?

I can't tell you, but what I came up with is a lot more wearable; and it only took about 15 minutes. Hello Esprit! The epitome of awesome in the early 90s. Did you notice the double ribbing? Oh yeah, you could really work a church bake sale in this bad boy.

This is a no-sew craft, by the way.

Here, take a look again that this great shirt. Click on it for a larger view.

Materials:
1 thrift store sweatshirt in your size
1 shirt with a collar shape you prefer
fabric scissors
sewing machine (optional)
chalk

Directions:
Lay the thrift store shirt out on a flat surface, front side up. Place the shirt you like on top of it with the shoulder seams matching up as best you can.

Find the lowest part of your shirt collar in the front and mark it with chalk on the thrift shirt. Do the same with the collar shape at the shoulders. You're just using your own shirt as a guide. Remove your shirt and with the chalk draw a curve to mark your new collar shape.

Do the same with the back of the shirt.

Starting at a shoulder seam, carefully cut along your line.

Ta-da! New collar. Now you could pin under the cut edge and sew a hem around, which I did. But it looks pretty good without doing that.

For the sleeves, I just cut around the top part of the cuff, thus removing the cuff altogether. Roll up your sleeves and you're done.

Bingo boingo! Fast craft.