Tailgate season is in full swing for college football and that means one thing to me: fun tailgate outfits in your school colors. While fun crop tops and cheer skirts are hard to resists, these game day looks can be pricey, especially if you’re trying to mix it up every game. It has hit the point in tailgating seasons where my girl gang and I are getting tired of our usual looks, and we are running out of clothes to share with each other. Since I’m balling on a budget but still trying to be in the tailgate spirit, I’ve been finding fun new ways to mix up the clothes I already have. Here’s a look at the newest DIY I’m loving: the Safety Pin Sweater!

I’m honestly not super sure how I landed on this idea, but I sure am glad I did. It’s super easy and all you need is a cute sweatshirt with your college colors or logo on it and a 100-count pack of safety pins. Cut the sleeves off at the seams, making sure to leave the seam intact on the body of the sweatshirt to keep the edges from fraying. I started off by pinning the top and bottom seams that run horizontally on the sleeves back onto the body of the sweater to make sure the sleeve wasn’t moving around while I worked. After that, I hooked the eye of the safety pin into the seam that I left on the body of the sweater, and connected the sleeve by hooking the pin about an inch from the start of the fabric. You can make the gap between the sleeve and the body of the sweater bigger or smaller depending on the safety pin size you use (I used these safety pins from amazon) and how far from the edge of the sleeve you hook your pin. It took a bit to get going but once I got the swing of things and figured out how big I wanted the gap to be, the whole sweater took me about an hour. 

I am so thrilled with the results and have even done a couple of sweaters for my sorority sisters and friends. This DIY is such a fun way to add an edgy twist to my tailgating look, not to mention only spending 10 bucks and an hour of my time for a completely new-looking sweater!