HOW TO: Make your own ugly Christmas sweater

Well, it’s that time of the year again. It’s time for ugly Christmas sweater parties! Sometimes it can be tricky to find the perfect sweater to wear to a party, so why not make your own?

Why would you want to spend hours going through thrift shops hoping you find something perfect, knowing there is no guarantee you will find what you’re looking for?  Making your own is a fun activity to do with your friends, and you can make sure it is perfect and just how you want it.

You can put your own twist on your sweater; all you’ll need is a shirt or sweater you don’t mind getting a bit ruined. It helps if your shirt is red or green, but any color will do.

Next, take any ribbon, bows, yarn and buttons you want to use to decorate your shirt. Sew the materials you have onto your shirt into some Christmas design. It can be a tree, present, reindeer, a candy cane, a snowman or even Santa. If you have extra material, make yourself a hair bow; the bigger and crazier the better.

To make a Christmas tree, use ribbon. Make the ribbon into the shape of a tree and sew it on. Add any other decorations you can to make ornaments. This can be made out of puff balls or fabric. Don’t forget to add a star to the top! If you want an extremely tacky Christmas sweater, add Christmas lights. Just make sure you have a way to have them stay lit all night.

To make a candy cane sweater it would look best on a green or black sweater so it stands out. This can be made out of fabric or pipe cleaners. Switch up between red and white of whatever you choose to make your candy cane out of and sew it on. Instead of putting one big candy cane on, you can put multiple small candy canes on your sweater for more of an “ugly” effect.

A snowman would be fairly easy to make. Make it on a white sweater so all you need to do is make the outline of the snowman. You can get creative with how you decorate him, such as with a red nose or an orange nose for a carrot, a black hat, rosy cheeks and buttons for eyes.

You may have more than one ugly Christmas sweater party to go to so it’s a perfect time to swap with your friends. If each of you do a different design on your sweater, then you will have multiple designs to choose from.