inside: learn how to make a Valentine Sweatshirt sweatshirt with sublimation print and embroidery. This custom sweatshirt is perfect for Valentines or any other holiday. Use print and embroidery to create a fun holiday sweatshirt.
**Post written in collaboration with Brother Sewing and Crafting but all ideas are my own**
Last fall I made a reverse applique LOVE sweatshirt and it was so fun to make and I’ve been wearing it ever since. With that in mind I’ve made this fun Valentine Sweatshirt with sublimation print and embroidery.
How to make a Valentine Sweatshirt
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to add to this shirt, but I just jumped in and got started. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out in the end. With a custom heart print fabric applique and some sublimation hearts as well, this sweatshirt turned out super cute.
In the tutorial below I’ll walk you through how I made this sweatshirt, but really this is just for inspiration and you can be inspired to create a custom shirt using whatever part of this you want. Use some embroidery, or sublimation, custom printing, all of it or just one part.
Custom print reverse applique sweatshirt
Supplies to make a custom sweatshirt:
- Sweatshirt {this is the one I used} You can use any sweatshirt you want, just make sure its a Poly blend so the sublimation can print well.
- Sublimation Printer
- Embroidery Machine
- white fabric for the applique
- Heart applique design – I used one from the Brother Artspira App
You can use heart fabric that you have or print some fun fabric using the Artspira App. I printed a full sheet of the heart fabric and meant to only iron about half of it onto the white fabric and save half of it to cut up to use the hearts. I forgot and pressed the whole sheet. oops! So I printed another small sheet to cut up later. Use a heat press or hot iron to fuse the sublimation print to the fabric. You can use any white fabric, just make sure it’s not 100% cotton for best color results.
To make it easier to embroider, I opened up the side of the sweatshirt. This shirt happened to have a side seam, so it was easy to open up. Need more tips on embroidering sweatshirts on with single needle machines? Check out this embroidery tutorial.
I marked where I wanted the center of my applique heart to be. Hoop stabilizer and your fabric and place it on the BACK of your sweatshirt with the print side UP. The SE2000 has a 5 x 7″ hoop, so I made my heart as big as I could with this size hoop.
This embroidery machine has a built in heart design you could use AND the Artspira app has a cute heart applique design. It’s made for applique so it’s perfect for this. I transferred it to the machine and then was able to make it a bit larger to fit the hoop.
Here’s how the applique steps out. First it does a single stitch heart. Then it stops.
From there, you trim out the inside of the heart as close to the stitches as possible. Then put the hoop back on the machine arm and the rest of the year will stitch out.
When it finishes, remove the stabilizer and trim the extra fabric.
Remember the extra hearts I printed? I cut out the full hearts and kept some of them in pairs. I decided to put a few hearts around the neckline.
Use a iron or heat press for 34 seconds. I then added a couple more hearts at the sleeve to finish. My final step was to trim a couple inches off the bottom of the sweatshirt as I didn’t love how long it was.
Squaredle says
This sweatshirt-making article is great! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It reminds me of when I tried making a DIY shirt for a friend’s birthday. I wasn’t sure how it’d turn out either, but it was so much fun. Any tips for getting the heart applique to stick better?
Fotolify says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It’s so creative. Have you ever tried adding some glitter to make it even more festive?
Tic Tac Toe says
This sweatshirt-making article is great! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It reminds me of when I tried making a DIY shirt for a friend’s birthday. Did you face any challenges getting the heart print just right?
Cryptordle says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. Did you face any challenges while sewing the applique? I once had a hard time getting the edges just right.
Play Snake says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once tried making a simple embroidered gift for a friend and it was a bit of a struggle. How did you manage to get the placement of the hearts so perfect? And did you have any funny moments while sewing, like accidentally sewing your finger instead of the fabric? 😜
Absurdle says
This sweatshirt-making article is so inspiring! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. Your reverse applique LOVE sweatshirt sounds amazing, too. I once tried making a simple embroidered top and it was a bit tricky but so rewarding. Can you share more about the process of choosing the right fabric for sublimation? And how did you decide on the placement of the hearts?
Tic Tac Toe says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It makes me want to try making one for my valentine. Do you think it’d be as cute with a different fabric color?
Absurdle says
This sweatshirt-making process sounds awesome! I love how you combined different techniques. Have you ever tried adding some glitter to the embroidery for extra Valentine bling?
AI Tools Spot says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It makes me want to try making one for my valentine. Did you have any trouble getting the heart print just right?
Wordle Unlimited says
This sweatshirt-making article is so inspiring! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. Your reverse applique LOVE sweatshirt sounds amazing, and I can picture how cozy it must be. I’m curious, did you face any challenges while choosing the right fabric for the sublimation hearts? Can’t wait to see more of your creative projects!
So Smart AI says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined different techniques. Have you tried adding some glitter to the embroidery for an extra sparkly Valentine look?
Happy Wordle says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once tried making a simple embroidered gift for a friend and it was a bit of a struggle. How did you manage to get the placement of the hearts so perfect? And did you have any funny moments while sewing, like accidentally sewing your finger instead of the fabric? 😜
Play Snake says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once made a DIY shirt for a friend’s birthday and had a blast. What’s the trick to getting the sublimation hearts to stick perfectly?
Wordle Hint says
This sweatshirt-making article is so inspiring! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. Your reverse applique LOVE sweatshirt sounds amazing, and this Valentine one looks equally great. I once tried making a simple embroidered gift, and it was a bit of a stitchy adventure. How did you come up with the idea to mix custom fabric applique with sublimation hearts?
Watermelon Game says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once made a DIY shirt for a friend’s birthday and had a blast. Did you face any challenges while working with the Brother sewing machine?
Crosswordle says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once made a DIY shirt for a friend’s birthday and had a blast. How did you come up with the idea of using a custom heart print fabric applique?
Dordle says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once tried making a DIY shirt for a friend’s birthday and had a bit of a struggle with the placement. Did you face any challenges while deciding where to put the heart applique and sublimation hearts? And what’s your favorite part about this Valentine’s sweatshirt?
Wordle Game says
This sweatshirt sounds amazing! Love the combo of sublimation and embroidery. Did you have any major sewing mishaps like I did when making my first custom piece?
Today Wordle says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation and embroidery. It makes me want to try making one for myself. Do you think it would be easier to start with the print or the embroidery?
Lutu says
This sweatshirt looks amazing! I love how you combined sublimation print and embroidery. It’s so creative. I once tried making a simple embroidered gift for a friend and it was a bit of a struggle. How did you manage to get the placement of the hearts so perfect? And did you have any funny moments while sewing, like accidentally sewing your finger instead of the fabric? 😜