DIY Christmas Jumper Decorations

Everyone loves a Christmas jumper/sweater so why not make a mini one to hang on your tree? You could also string a few of them together to make a garland or add as a present topper to your gifts. This is a really fun project which you can make with felt or card and design any way you want!

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What you’ll need

• Felt (various colours)
• Needle and thread
• Pins
• Scissors
• Pipe cleaners or wire
• Small beads, buttons or pompoms (optional)
• Template (optional) – download from Ko-Fi (and consider a donation to support SCK)

Don’t worry if you don’t have any felt or can’t sew, these Christmas jumpers can be made with card instead and decorated with stickers, paint, pens and glitter! Stick a loop of string or wool on the back to hang.

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Instructions

Download and print the template or draw a similar jumper shape onto paper or card. Cut out the template and pin to your felt sheet. You want two pieces so fold your felt in half before pinning so they will be exactly the same. Any colours will do but Christmassy colours like red, green and white work best.

Draw around your template and cut out the shapes. Choose one piece to be the front of the jumper which will have the decoration sewn on and the stitching will be hidden by the back piece.

I chose a Christmas tree design as it is a simple triangle shape. Cut a small triangle from green felt and sew onto the front piece of your jumper. I added a small brown rectangle for a trunk but it’s not essential.

Now decorate! If you have any small beads you can sew them onto the tree so they look like baubles. If not then you can sew french knots or just lines of different coloured thread to look like tinsel. You could even use puffy paint.

For the top of the tree I found a small pompom but you could use a bead or button or sew a star shape with embroidery thread.

Once you are happy with your decoration, pin the front of the jumper to the back. Starting on one sleeve, sew around the two pieces – I used blanket stitch as I think it gives a nice neat edge but running stitch would be fine too. Stop before you reach the neckline so you can insert your hanger.

The hanger can be made with a pipe cleaner or any thin wire you have around the house. I used some glittery tinsel pipe cleaners I had left over from another project and they look really effective. This tutorial for making a hanger out of a paper clip would work too but you may have to make your jumper smaller to fit.

Start by folding the top of the pipe cleaner into a curve for the top of the hanger then bring it round into a ‘2’ shape. Measure this by holding it against your jumper to make sure it will fit. Fold the pipe cleaner back around onto itself and wrap around the neck of the hanger a couple of times, cutting off the excess. The edges may be sharp so be careful and make sure they’re kept away from children. A loop of ribbon sewn on the back is a good alternative.

Insert the hanger into the jumper and finish stitching. Sew a couple of stitches round the hanger to keep it in place. Do this on both sides so the jumper won’t slip off. Your decoration is now ready to hang on the tree!

I love making these as the design can be as simple or fancy as you want. I’ve made a few different designs to give you some ideas but anything goes! How about Santa, robins or Christmas presents? Make them personalised for friends and family with their initial on the front or simply cover them with beads, bells and ribbon.

Let us know if you make them as we’d love to see your Christmas jumper decorations! You can tag @sckawaii on Instagram or Twitter. You can also check out all our original DIYs and more Christmas crafts.

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This tutorial and template was created by Nicolette for Super Cute Kawaii and the images, instructions and files may not be reposted without credit and permission. Thank you for respecting the rights of artists and makers.