The ugly sweater DIY trend is hot (pun intended)! This year, don’t buy your ugly sweater…make it. Follow the steps below to make your own DIY ugly Christmas sweater with a fun Rudolph theme!
Each year people all over dress up in a variety of ugly Christmas sweaters. From gaudy to silly, this fun tradition adds a little comedy to a season that can sadly be more stressful than fun sometimes.
In case you aren’t (quite) prepared yet, I’ve got everything you need to get ready for a rockin’ ugly sweater party this Christmas.
How To Make Ugly Sweater DIY
You know I’m a fan of crazy simple DIY projects. The way I see it, why spend the money to buy it when you can make a comparable item faster and cheaper?
When it comes to making something that other people will actually see, I know some readers get a little worried that they need to have great crafting skills or the project won’t turn out to be something they feel good about showing off.
A DIY ugly Christmas sweater is the perfect opportunity to flex your crafting muscles without worrying about the final result! Seriously, an ugly sweater is meant to be just that – ugly – and it’s all part of the fun.
Just follow along with my step-by-step instructions to make your own DIY Rudolph sweater. It’s a quick & easy craft that’s fun to create.
Supply Needed To Make Ugly Sweater DIY
- Plain sweater
- Brown felt (a large piece that is about 1/2 yard)
- Fabric Fusion glue
- Red pompoms
- Extra-large googly eyes (these were really difficult to glue on so you might consider white and black felt instead)
- Antlers
- Hot glue and a glue gun
- Chalk
Step 1: Cut Out The Deer Head
Lay the brown felt out onto your sweater. Draw a line with chalk that would outline about half of the deer head. Fold the felt in half and cut along the line with scissors.
Step 2: Fit Felt To Sweater
Lay the felt you just cut out onto the sweater with the chalk side down. Then, cut around the neck of your sweater (see pic below).
Step 3: Glue Felt To The Sweater
Be sure to put cardboard between the sweater front and back before gluing the felt head into place. This ensures that the glue won’t leak through and glue the front and back of your sweater together.
Use the Fabric Fusion to add the felt head to the sweater.
Step 4: Add The Details
Then, use your glue gun to add the pompoms and googly eyes to your deer head.
NOTE: The eyes were EXTREMELY hard to glue to the felt (and didn’t want to stay on). I would recommend actually using white and black felt instead of the googly eyes.
Step 5: Add Antlers
Rudolph also needs some antlers! I purchased a small pair on a headband as shown below.
Then, I cut the antlers off and hot glue them to the top of the sweater.
That’s it! Didn’t I mention this craft is easy?
Now, just wait for everything to dry properly before putting this ugly sweater on for a modeling show! Awesome right?
You will definitely win the ugly sweater contest wearing this amazing DIY ugly Christmas sweater!
Tips and Tricks For Ugly Sweater DIY
Now that you’ve seen this fun ugly sweater DIY are you ready to make your own? Here are a few tips and tricks to ensure your project goes as smoothly as possible!
- Shop The Thrift Store Or Your Closet – If you don’t want to buy a new sweater for this project, you can buy one at a thrift store or use an old one that you don’t plan to use as an everyday sweater again!
- Use Fabric Fusion For Step 3 – Fabric Fusion is perfect for adding felt to a sweater! I highly recommend using Fabric Fusion for step 3 because unlike hot glue, Fabric Fusion is designed for fabric and will ”dry flexible” (meaning it won’t stiffin or damage your fabric).
- Cut Out Felt Pieces With Your Cricut – If you don’t want to cut things out by hand, you can cut out the felt pieces using your Cricut machine instead! To learn how to cut felt with your Cricut machine, check out our Cutting Felt With A Cricut: A How To Guide blog post.
- Cut Your Anters Out Of Felt – If you can’t find an anter headband in store or online, you can create your own anters out of felt. To do this, simple cut an anter shape, two times out of felt. From there you can either leave them as is or glue a pipe cleaner to the back to give them some structure.
- NOTE: If you love sewing, you could also cut out two pieces of felt in the shape of an anter and sew the wrong sides together leaving an opening at the bottom. Then turn the anters right side out, stuff them, and sew the opening close.
5 More Ugly Sweater Crafts
Did you love this ugly sweater DIY and want more ugly sweater crafts? Then check out the projects below!
- How To Make A DIY Ugly Christmas Sweater
- Easy Ugly Christmas Sweater Ornaments
- Free Ugly Christmas Sweater Printables for Your Party
- Christmas Sweater Collage Craft for Kids
- Christmas Sweater With Lights: Make It For Your Party!
OMG, dude! Those plate-sized googly eyes are hysterical! This is great.
That is so stinkin’ awesome! The eyes–those are great! Would win a contest for sure! Thanks for organizing the party, it was a lot of fun!