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DIY Prada Sweater Dupe

How to Crop a Sweatshirt & Shorten the Sleeves
My Sixth Chemotherapy Treatment: No More Chemo & Great News!

Looking luxe on a budget isn’t always easy, friends.

Sure, there are plenty of fabulous thrift store outfits to be scored, but sometimes a little extra DIY effort can take a ho-hum garment from dowdy to daring.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through these links, you won’t pay a penny more, but I’ll get a small commission. Thanks!

You might also like this Ottolinger Deconstructed Sweater Knockoff refashion!

I loved this fur cuffed sweater by Prada when I saw it online, but I balked at its $900 price tag.

Prada sweater with fur trim
Isn’t it fun?

I’m sure some of you find it silly. I mean…it is. But after I saw it, I became obsessed with creating my own refashioned version.

Prada sweater with fur trim with price online
Oh look…it’s on sale! *eye roll*

According to the product description, you’re looking at a…

Prada cable knit mohair blend pullover with goat fur inserts on the cuffs.

Here’s how I made my own Prada Sweater dupe!

First, I found a sweater in a similar color at a thrift store for $1.

refashionista DIY Prada Sweater Dupe before
This one will do!

It took weeks for me to find anything close to that tealish green at my favorite thrift stores!

I considered dying a white cable knit sweater to my desired hue, but couldn’t find one of those either! Gah!

Technically, my sweater should be bigger, as well as cable knit and a mohair blend to be truly spot-on with my inspiration piece, but I just couldn’t wait a moment longer to complete this refashion!

DIY Prada Sweater Dupe before
It’ll do.

You’ll notice I’m wearing some pretty big sunglasses in my before pics for this one. That’s because I’m still looking prrrrretty rough after my last (hopefully very last ever) chemo treatment and the bags under my eyes would scare small children (and could later be used to transport them to their respective therapists).

That’s right…this is my FIRST post-cancer refashion!!!! Huzzah!!!!!!!!

But where did I find the fur?

I hoped to find a pink fur pillow or kid’s jacket while thrifting, but no dice.

I finally went to a craft store where I still couldn’t find any bright pink faux fur (I decided to forgo the goat route).

I ended up buying a half yard of the stuff from Amazon for $22.

This is WAY more than you need for this project, but I couldn’t find a smaller quantity online.

half yard of pink faux fur on table
It’s…a lot.

If you can find pink faux fur at your local craft store, it’ll be much cheaper, as you won’t end up having to buy the massive amount I now own.

It’s okay. I have a six-year-old niece, and I’m sure I’ll come up with something fun to make for her out of it.

I measured the parts of the sweater sleeve I wanted to cover with the fur.

First, I measured the length.

measuring length of sweater sleeve
About this long.

Then, I measured the width, making sure to add on a little extra so I could overlap the fur.

If you’re following along at home, you’ll want to double this number (since you’ll need enough fur for both sides.

measuring sweater sleeve width
Right here.

Using the measurements above, I cut out my two fur rectangles.

two fur rectangles
Here they are!

This was a very messy process that left me with a bunch of loose pink fur all over my work table and floor!

Seriously…keep a vacuum handy if you attempt this.

loose fur on table
Yeesh.

The fur itself didn’t shed. This is just from the act of cutting the rectangles out, thereby giving the surrounding fur a haircut.

Attaching the Fur Cuffs to the Sweater

I contemplated a few methods for attaching the fur to my sweater.

I didn’t want to sew it on, as I didn’t want any visible stitching.

I thought about sewing velcro to the sleeves, and then gluing velcro to the cuffs. This would make the fur detachable for laundering purposes, but I worried that would end up looking bulky and weird.

Finally, I settled on gluing the fur directly onto the sweater. I’d still be able to wash it, just on a hand wash setting and I’d have to let it air dry. No big deal, as this is how I wash most of my sweaters anyways.

Before getting my glue on, I inserted a piece of cardboard into each sleeve.

piece of cardboard for sleeve
…from a box of delicious generic Triscuits!

This will keep the glue from seeping through to the other side and gluing my sleeves together.

Here’s what my sleeves looked like after the cardboard was inserted:

cardboard in sleeve
Don’t stretch them out, or the fur will pucker!

What DIDN’T Work: Fabric Glue

I thought this was going to be a fairly straightforward no-sew refashion, but I was mistaken.

I grabbed my fabric glue.

bottle of liquid stitch fabric glue
Liquid LIES is more like it!

Then I glued a line along the top of the fur where I wanted to attach it to the sleeve.

adding fabric glue to fur
If only future me could have warned past me!

I laid my sleeve over the glued part.

adding sleeve to fur
Everything seemed to be going so well!

I folded the rest of the fur over the sleeve. Then, I added more glue along the vertical end of the fur.

gluing vertical side of fur
It all seemed so easy. Too easy.

I folded that flap over the top of the fur (trying to hide the seam as much as possible).

folding glued fur down
All done…or was I?

I put a couple of heavy books on top of the glued fur to help it adhere better.

books on end of sleeves
Art Books: Not just for reading!

The instructions on the glue bottle said it would dry in 30 minutes.

I gave it an hour.

I removed my books and pulled gently at the fur.

fur peeling away from sweater
Wellllll…that didn’t work!

The fabric glue was a complete and utter FAIL, friends!

Maybe the sweater was too porous? Maybe the fur’s backing was the wrong texture? I’m not sure.

Feel free to offer suggestions in the comments below!

What DID Work: Hot Glue Gun

It was time to break out the big guns…er gun!

hot glue gun
Glue gun that is!

I basically just repeated the same steps listed above but used hot glue instead of fabric glue.

adding hot glue to fur
Hot glue to the rescue!

It worked like a charm!

hot gluing fur to sweater
Never give up!

The hot glue held the fur firmly in place. It’s not going anywhere now!

Check out my Prada for nada Designer Dupe!

refashionista DIY Prada sweater dupe after full length
I feel…fancy!
refashionista DIY Prada sweater dupe after close
Cute…innit?

I think I came pretty close to my inspiration piece!

original Prada Sweater
Not to shabby, eh?

The colors aren’t perfect, and I wasn’t able to use the same materials as the original, but for $1 (plus the price of the fur), I think it works!

refashionista DIY Prada sweater dupe after waist up
Fashion Blogger Pose #475

I styled my new-to-me sweater with a pair of faux leather pants, knee boots, and my favorite short wig!

refashionista DIY Prada sweater dupe after smiling
I’m happy with it!

My friend Erin said I looked like a muppet, but did I care? No. I did not.

refashionista DIY Prada sweater dupe after selfie
It literally looks like a muppet is grabbing me in this photo.

What do you think? Did I get close to the real thing?

inspiration prada sweater and diy side by side
What say you?

Not bad for a $1 thrifted sweater!

refashionista DIY Prada Sweater Dupe before and after
How to Crop a Sweatshirt & Shorten the Sleeves
My Sixth Chemotherapy Treatment: No More Chemo & Great News!