DIY Givenchy Rottweiler inspired jumpers

By Helen Walker

I was inspired by the Givenchy Rottweiler jumpers that have been a recent favourite with fashion bloggers. As free-hand painting is a great way to add an interesting design to an otherwise plain piece of clothing, I decided to create my own feline equivalent. It may not be Givenchy, but it’s just as eye-catching and at a fraction of the price. Plus you’ll get extra kudos thanks to ‘zoo-animals’ featuring on Vogue’s Spring/Summer trends A-Z.

You will need:

- Cheap plain sweater or t-shirt (I like to shop in the men’s section to get an oversized fit)

- Paint brushes

- Sponge

- Wooden Skewer

- Fabric paint in white, red, cyan and black

- A picture of a snow leopard to copy from

- Ice cream tub lid to mix paints on

- Pins and A3 paper to make a template

1. To get the design central on the sweater, I firstly drew out a template on paper, cut it out and pinned it to the jumper. Lightly draw round this template, and then when you are happy with it, go over it again with the white fabric paint.

2. Start painting the base colours of the snow leopard. You need to begin with white as it is easier to blend darker colours onto light colours, rather than the other way around. I started with the ears, eye markings and muzzle of the leopard.

3. Mix grey in a variety of shades, then blend them onto the design using a sponge. Don’t worry about letting each colour dry before you move on to the next one, as the colours blend better when the paint is still wet. Sponging the paint on also gives a realistic fur texture to the design. Below you can see I have started to define the features of the leopard, especially the nose/muzzle.

4. Next paint details onto the design so that the leopard starts to take shape. I have started with the markings, again just using a sponge.

5. Next is the tricky bit; the defining features of the leopard. I drew onto my design in chalk first for a rough guide of where to paint. This works best using really fine brushes.

6. Be sure that the paint has dried before embarking on the final touch of whiskers, or else risk your lovingly painted design becoming an unrecognisable smudge. I used a hairdryer, just to be safe. Dip the end of a wooden skewer in white paint and then flick it from the muzzle outwards on your design.