Every December, my family breaks out their Christmas sweaters: the louder and uglier, the better. It’s our unofficial dress code during our holiday gathering, and at the end of the night, we vote on the best one. I usually go for something a little more personal, a little cheaper, and a lot more me.

Now it’s become my own tradition: me, a pile of craft supplies, and one night dedicated to creating a sweater that I will absolutely hate in pictures later.

I start with a plain thrifted sweater or an old favorite from my closet. Comfort is essential; I need something I can stay in the entire night. Cotton-blend sweaters always work best for gluing, stitching, and surviving whatever I end up putting on them.

I picked this old favorite from my closet…..

Some years I go in with a plan: A classic Christmas tree. A snowy landscape. Something with stars.

Other years, I embrace the chaos. There’s something about dumping out my box of craft supplies and just seeing what feels right. This was one of those years.

I know this year was filled with chaos for a lot of people, including myself. So, it only felt appropriate to give myself the space to reflect that onto my sweater this year.

Before I start, I scatter everything I might use across the table. This is what I was working with this year:

Sweater
Fabric glue
Pom-poms
Ribbon and yarn scraps
Scissors

It never looks organized, but it always works out.

I lay the sweater flat and start arranging pieces like a puzzle. Once it looks right (or right enough), I start stitching or gluing.

The ribbons had a wired backing, which turned out to be perfect. Because the sweater is knit, I could thread the wire through and secure each piece from the inside. A few snips to trim the excess, and voila! The ribbons were secure on the sweater.