How to Make an Ugly Christmas Sweater

Here's directions to three easy DIY Christmas sweaters. Maybe you've been invited to a last minute ugly Christmas sweater party and all you have are regular sweaters in the house.  Or maybe you've got something that fits you, but your husband need something ASAP to wear to the party.  No worries!  Making a DIY ugly Christmas sweater is easy peasy - even for someone who has no crafting skills.

If you know how to sew and have a crafty imagination like we do here at My Ugly Christmas Sweater, then there's no such thing at too much stuff on a Christmas sweater. If you want to win the 'Most Ugly' prize, think about sewing fringe off your old bedspread to the collar and hem, and add some lights from the craft store to really make it pop! Our naughty Christmas sweaters are top sellers, and customers tell us they have a great time wearing them!

There are loads of ideas of things you can do to make a funny Christmas sweater.  We've assisted loads of customers with their last minute sweaters. Even though we ship our sweaters daily and are almost always able to get a sweater to a customer who needs it overnight, there are those rare occasions where a customer needs a sweater in HOURS, and rather than leave them out in the cold, we walk them through how to make their own sweater. 

We specialize in unique and cute Christmas sweater designs and love to hear from our customers, who share photos from their parties.  It's the crafty sweaters that usually win a prize at a party, so put your thinking cap on and see what you can attach to a sweater to make it come alive with festive fun.

We've even been on the Today Show showing the world how to whip up a tacky holiday sweater with only a gluegun, place mat, ornaments and garland.  Anne Marie Blackman coached the hosts in making their own sweaters with penguin cloth place mats that you can find at major department stores.

If you don't sew and don't have a glue gun you can still make a fab Christmas sweater. Here are two ideas the involve almost no skill what so ever, and one idea that requires a glue gun.

#1:  Ornament Tree sweater. Skill level needed: zero

what you need: sweater, real Christmas ornaments (11 is a good number), yarn or string, safety pins

• get a sweater that fits you from your closet or thrift store. Holiday sweater is good, but it can be any sweater.
• cut string to (11) 4" pieces
• thread one string through each ornament hole and knot at the top.
• lay your sweater on the table and arrange the ornaments on the top of the sweater in a tree pattern: 5 at the bottom, 3 above that row, 2 above that row, and one on the top.
• Using the safety pins, attach the yarn to the sweater. It's best to do this on the inside of the sweater, but fine to do on the outside. The tackier the better.
• That's it!

 #2 Reindeer sweater. Skill level needed: zero

what you need: sweater, stuffed reindeer toy, safety pins,  jingle bells (optional)

• lay out sweater on table
• put safety pins on back of reindeer: back, arms, legs, head
• beginning at center back of reindeer and working outwards: pin reindeer to sweater
  hint: put a piece of newspaper between the front and back of the sweater. This will help you avoid pinning the front and back sweater together.
• attach jingle bells to reindeer hoofs with safety pins.

#3 Fabric decorations on sweater: skill level: moderate
what you need: sweater, festive fabric, glue gun/sewing machine/needle and thread, garland (optional)

• lay out sweater on table
• cut out festive fabric and lay fabric on the sweater
• attach fabric ot the sweater using a glue gun, or hand sew, or machine sew
• trim fabric with fringe, garland or other trimming

There's no need to panic if you get a last minute invitation to an ugly Christmas sweater party and don't have time to buy a holiday sweater.  There's no such thing as 'too tacky', so just attach whatever holiday decorations you have around the house to a sweater, and have a great time at the party!

Check out our pinterest boards for loads of DIY sweater ideas as well as ugly Christmas sweater party food and drink ideas.