Create your own ugly Christmas sweater and sleigh the holidays!
The ugly Christmas sweater was worn as a joke to holiday parties and pub crawls but over the last several years, it’s become serious fashion. These specialty sweaters can be pricey if you buy them at the department store but there’s no need to spend all your hard-earned cash when you can make your own. Let’s ‘tis the season and make an ugly Christmas sweater. It’s the perfect project to spread some yuletide cheer.
As a Brother Sews Ambassador I get to create all kinds of sewing projects using the BEST sewing and embroidery machines on the market. There is so much you can do with a Brother machine and some fabric but my favorite is to refashion old clothing into a new style…giving it a new life. This ugly Christmas sweater a festive project that takes an old sweater and turns it into holiday delight!
There is no right or wrong way to make an ugly Christmas sweater. You can add embroidery and appliqués to create whatever you find the most fun and festive. I made a Grinch theme using one of my favorite embroidery files, but you can steer your design wherever you want it to go! The best part about being creative is that you get to decide everything about the design.
Supplies:
Brother sewing and embroidery machine
Adhesive stabilizer
Iron-on adhesive
Sweater or sweatshirt – I recommend anything gently used from the closet or thrift store
Holiday themed embroidery design
Holiday themed appliqué design(s)
Old t-shirts that have silkscreened words and text on them
Fabric scraps
Scissors
Straight pins
Make it:
Prep the sweater by marking the location for the top of the design. I do this by trying it on and placing a piece if tape to mark the top of the design. You may think you know where the design will fall by eyeballing it, but trust me, you don’t want the top of your design to lay too low. So measure twice, make once. Now, cut the sides of the sweater open so you can use add designs to the entire front (and back) of the sweater.
Using adhesive stabilizer in your hoop, lay the front piece of the sweater on the hoop. Secure it in place by patting it down.
On your embroidery machine, set up your selected holiday design. Start with the main feature of your design and add the smaller components to it. You can do all embroidery, or you can do all appliqué, but I like the idea of the different textures a mix of embroidery and appliqué provide to the look.
As it’s being laid out, be mindful to leave some empty space where you will add your holiday greeting to the sweater using those old t-shirts.
Start the embroidery process with the main holiday theme. I placed a piece of light stabilizer over the top of my fabric so the design doesn’t pucker.
Finish the embroidery and add your appliqué pieces.
Once the embroidery and appliqué processes are complete, un-hoop the sweater and tear away the stabilizer.
Let’s add even more “ugly” to your Christmas sweater using those t-shirts. Cut out letters from the old t-shirts to spell out a greeting or phrase.
Add iron-on adhesive to each letter making sure to follow the package directions.
Place the letters on the sweater and iron them on, then top stitch around each letter using a brighter colored thread than the fabric and a longer stitch length.
To add even more “ugly” décor to your sweater, add some pop-art embellishments using your fabric scraps. I added a Santa hat to my grinch by folding and creating the shape I want from my scraps.
Pin it on your sweater and sew it in place. If you want extra credit, hand stitch pom-poms or jingle bells to your design.
To finish the sweater, pin the right sides together and sew up the side seams. With a little inspiration and some imagination, you can create a handmade, ugly Christmas sweater. Just put it on and you’ll be ready to sleigh the holidays!
Make your own UGLY Christmas sweater
Equipment
- Brother sewing and embroidery machine
Materials
- 1 Sweater or sweatshirt red, green, white, gold, or blue
- Adhesive stabilizer
- Iron-on adhesive
- Holiday themed embroidery design and appliqué designs
- Old t-shirts with words and letters on the print
- fabric scraps
- scissors
- Straight pins
Instructions
- Prep the sweater by marking the location for the top of the design.
- Cut the sides of the sweater open so you can use add designs to the entire front (and back) of the sweater.
- Using adhesive stabilizer in your hoop, lay the front piece of the sweater on the hoop. Secure the sweater in place by patting it down on to the adhesive.
- On your embroidery machine, set up your selected holiday design. Start with the main feature of your design and add the smaller components to it. You can do all embroidery, or you can do all applique, but try to create a mix of embroidery and applique to create the look.
- Start the embroidery process with the main holiday theme and placed a piece of lightweight stabilizer over the top the sweater so the design doesn’t pucker.
- Finish the embroidery and add your appliqué pieces. Once the embroidery and appliqué processes are complete, un-hoop the sweater and tear away the stabilizer.
- Cut out letters from the old t-shirts to spell out a greeting or phrase.
- Add iron-on adhesive to each letter making sure to follow the package directions.
- Place the letters on the sweater and iron them on, then top stitch around each letter using a brighter colored thread than the fabric and a longer stitch length.
- Add some pop-art embellishments using your fabric scraps.
- Pin it on your sweater and sew it in place.
- You’re finished. Just put it on and you’ll be ready to sleigh the holidays!
