'The Mama' Sweatshirt DIY
October 07, 2016
Becoming a mum is a huge part of my identity. I've wanted to have a family for a long time, and have shared our struggles along the way to becoming mum and dad.
I'm under no illusion that I'm not the first person to ever experience the magic of motherhood, I'm not going to start spouting rhetoric as if I'm the world's first mum; but I didn't realize quite how fulfilling and altering it would be to who I am as a person. I finally feel like I've found myself.
Instead of wearing my heart on my sleeve, I wanted to wear my pride on my chest! Here's how you can make your 'The Mama' sweater-
You will need:
- A sweatshirt- I used a simple Hanes sweater in a pale grey, $9.40 from Amazon*
- A US letter/A4 sized sheet of felt- I used black, sticky backed felt (which isn't necessary- but does make it easier!), $4.62 from Amazon*
- Stitch Witchery/Wonder-web iron on tape, $3.99 from Amazon*
- A printer and sheet of paper
- Ballpoint pen- if you use sticky backed felt
- Dressmaking pins- if your felt does not have a sticky back
- Scissors
- Iron
*These links to Amazon are purely for the purpose of showing you what I used to make this project, Rhode Island does not allow residents to participate in the Amazon Affiliates program so feel free to purchase your project items where ever you fancy- these are just suggestions and I don't earn anything from your clicks!
Select the font you want to use for your shirt. I found a traditional school sports style font on 1001 Free Fonts. Type your phrase and adjust the size so that the words take up the entire letter/A4 sheet.
You can break up the words to make the most of the space as this is just your template, not how the letters will be arranged on the finished shirt.
Print your letter template on a plain sheet of paper. If your felt is self adhesive and has paper backing (like mine) lay the template sheet over the paper backing of your felt sheet and trace over the letters with a ball point pen.
This will create an indentation outline of your letters- remember to mirror reverse any letters that are direction specific, eg: a, b, c... D, E, F etc. Cut along the indentations to create your felt letters.
If you don't use felt with a paper backing, cut out the letters from your printed template and pin them to the felt. Cut around the paper templates to create your felt letters. If you use this method you won't need to worry about direction specific letters as you can simply flip the felt letter over.
Lay out your letters on your shirt to get the spacing correct before you apply the iron on tape. When you are happy with your design, cut or tear the tape to fit behind the felt letters, and iron onto the shirt- follow the specific directions of the iron on tape brand you use as to the iron temperature and how long to hold the iron over the fabric.
Make sure you don't have iron on tape protruding under the edges of your letters, this will result in your iron getting messy, and sticky patches on your shirt.
Let the fabric cool completely before checking the tape has melted and secured your felt letters to your shirt.
To launder, wash your sweater inside out on a gentle cycle, treat any significant stains (because with kiddos most stains are significant!) prior to washing as a heavy duty cycle could loosen your felt letters.
If any letters do fall off in the wash, simple let everything dry, iron your letter and sweater flat, apply more iron tape and reseal.
Of course, you don't have to stick to these colours or 'The Mama'. If you're a proud aunt, brother, coffee lover, or lazy bum cut out those letters and declare your pride!
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