Need some inspiration for your next game day ‘fit? In this tutorial, I’m sharing how I made DIY sweatshirts for our family trip to the University of Tennessee football game.
I was inspired by a recent tutorial by Elizabeth at Quilter's Candy (you can see her version here) but added some additional elements to make this the perfect gameday shirt.
These shirts came together pretty quickly once I had all my supplies gathered and they can be modified easily based on your favorite team or desired finished design.
Supplies
A plain shirt of any kind (t-shirts or sweatshirts work great)
Accent fabric for letters and footballs/flower - this can be a woven or knit fabric but I suggest using something lightweight and soft
A jersey needle (for stitching on the knit shirt)
Thread to match shirt color and flower petal/football color
Two-sided lightweight fusible (I prefer Heat’n Bond Lite Sewable)
Lightweight fusible interfacing for reverse applique
A presser foot with an open toe (I use the #20 foot on my Bernina B350)
A ¼” presser foot for straight stitching (I use the #37 foot on my Bernina B350)
A decorative stitch for the “laces” of the footballs (I use the #81 stitch on my Bernina B350)
(Optional) Iron-on letters (I used these from Hobby Lobby)
Paper to print templates
Thin washable or disappearing marker to trace letters
Preparation
Finding a Decorative Stitch:
I suggest before getting started, testing out a few decorative stitches for the football “laces” if you don’t have the exact stitch I do in this tutorial. For this tutorial I will be using the #81 stitch on my Bernina B350. Many sewing machines have multiple options of decorative stitches so find a few that looks similar and play around with the width and length of stitching on a scrap piece of fabric to get the look that you like.
Deciding how you will make your shirt:
There are a few different ways you can mix and match the techniques in this tutorial to come up with your own but before beginning, decide which look you like best.
In this tutorial I will be sharing two different combinations I used:
Iron on letters+ raw edge applique/reverse applique flower (black shirt)
Reverse applique letters + raw edge applique/reverse applique flower (white shirt)
If you would like to do reverse applique for your letters, you will want to print your letters out to the scale you like. You can play around with different fonts on Canva.com for free. The Canva font I used in this example is “Yearbook Outline.”
Making the Football Petals
Since both options in this tutorial include a raw edge applique + reverse applique flower, we’ll make these pieces first and then we’ll add the letters.
To make your footballs, you will print off this template and if you want to make the petals bigger or smaller than these options, I suggest scaling them up or down to your preferred size using a scanner/printer.
Cut out at least one of the printed footballs in your preferred size (kids/adult) and the center circle piece.
Next, following the directions on the packaging, add the double-sided fusible to the wrong side of your football petal fabric.
Trace 6 football shapes on the paper side of your double-sided fusible and cut out the 6 footballs.
Laying out your design
At this point, you should decide which letter option you want to proceed with.
If you have iron-on letters, you will lay those out where you want them and place the footballs and center circle to align together on the shirt.
If you decide to reverse applique your letters, you will want to cut out and place the paper letters in your preferred font on the front of your shirt with the footballs and center circle aligned together with the letters.
Once you have everything laid out where you’d like it, using your iron, press your petals/footballs into place (if you have iron on letters, you can iron your letters on at this step too).
If you're using the reverse applique letters, trace your letters as they are laid out on your shirt including the center circle of the flower. (skip this step if using iron on letters)
Securing Raw Edge Applique Pieces and Adding Decorative Stitching
Once your raw edge applique flower petals are adhered using the ironing process, secure each petal using a straight top stitch around the entire edge.
Next, add your decorative stitch down the middle of each petal.
The decorative stitch I used is the #81 stitch on my Bernina B350. For this stitch, switch your presser foot to a #20 foot (or an open foot that allows the needle to move left to right) before beginning.
The default setting for this stitch was too wide and long for my preference on the kids size templates so I reduced the width of my stitch to 3.8 and the length to 2.0.
Be sure to leave room at the beginning and end of each football/petal when adding your decorative stitch. I eyeballed this but you could also measure out and mark the start and end of your decorative stitch to guide you. I also recommend making sure to end your stitch in the center needle position for a cleaner look.
*Note: I switched to a 70/10 needle about halfway through my decorative stitching as I preferred less noticeable holes through the fusible backing.
For both the top stitching and decorative stitching, I buried the top thread ends to the inside of the shirt but you can also backstitch at the start and ends if you prefer to secure the stitches.
Adding Reverse Applique Letters
If not using iron-on letters, add the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric you want to use for your letters. Be sure the pieces of fabric are slightly larger than the letter size you are using.
Pin the fabric pieces to the inside of the shirt with the right side facing up so that the fabric is sure to cover the outline of your traced letters.
Using a straight stitch, stitch around the traced letters to the OUTSIDE of your marked lines and center flower circle either backstitching at the beginning and end or tying the thread ends to the inside of the shirt. I suggest stitching at least ⅛” to the outside of your traced lines.
Once each letter and the flower center has been stitched, using scissors (carefully!) cut to the INSIDE of the stitching of only the shirt (do not cut into the fabric layer behind the shirt), leaving about ⅛” of shirt fabric to the inside of your stitch line.
Once you have all of your letters cut out, you're finished and ready to head to the game!
I'd love to see what you make using this tutorial!
Share your finished project with me on Instagram by tagging @jessicasteeledesign.
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