Fa La Llama: DIY Llama Christmas Sweater with free Cut File

Make your own DIY Llama Christmas sweater and other gifts using my free SVG cut file. It’s fun to make and even more fun to wear this holiday season! This post contains affiliate links, which help to support this site. Thank you!

Are you guys ready for Christmas stuff? I know we still have Thanksgiving and all that, but I say bring it on! In fact, I’m behind on my Hallmark Christmas movie binging. Need to get caught up on that! Haha…

To kick off a whole bunch of fun Christmas craft ideas over here at Persia Lou, I thought we’d start off with a this cute little DIY Llama Christmas sweater that I made for my daughter. I am kind of crazy about it and definitely need one for myself now. I have been doing lots of sketching and doodling on my ipad pro with my apple pencil lately, and I had this little llama sitting there and just felt like he needed to be on a shirt. I’m sharing the free cut file with you all today, so you can make your own shirts (or mugs, or tote bags, or stockings, or whatever). Ready? Let’s go!

DIY Llama Christmas Sweater Supplies:

• Plain Sweatshirt
• Heat Transfer Vinyl (I used EasyWeed in Black and Coral)
• Silhouette Cameo or other electronic cutting machine
• Iron
• Weeding Tool
• My Fa La La Llama Design (Click to HERE to download the SVG, PNG, and DXF files in a ZIP file. Cut files are free for personal use ONLY. You can purchase a commercial use license HERE.)

UPDATE: I’ve had some requests for a version of the design with a white background shape for the llama, so I have updated the file with that option. 🙂

How to Make Your Own DIY Llama Christmas Sweater

1. Prep the File. Start by opening the file in your cutting machine software (download the file from the supply list above.) (I use a Silhouette, so I will have more detailed instructions related to working with a Silhouette, but you should be able to do all of this with a Cricut as well.) Size the design to the right size for your shirt. Next, because we are using heat transfer vinyl, you will need to mirror or flip the design horizontally. In the Silhouette Studio software, you do this by selecting the design, then clicking Object > Mirror > Flip Horizontally.

Now you are ready to cut! This file is designed to be used with two colors of vinyl to give the llama’s scarf and ear muff a little pop. The Silhouette software has a great feature that makes it super easy to cut by color. In the Send tab, under Action select “Action by Fill.” You should already see the design separated out by color. Check on the boxes next to the color you will be cutting first and adjust the material, action, and tool settings for each color. Cut each color separately.

For the pink layer, move your pieces up into a corner before cutting to avoid wasting vinyl. 😉

2. Remove Excess Vinyl. After both of your pieces are done cutting, you are ready for weeding! Just use a weeding hook or pin or tweezers to remove all the excess vinyl from around your design. I really love and recommend this weeding hook.

3. Line Up and Position Design. After both colors are cut and weeded, we will line them up to help us position the first layer (the pink layer). The stickiness of the plastic carrier sheet makes it easy to keep your layers together and correctly positioned.

Pick up both layers together and position them on your shirt. Then peel off the top black layer, leaving the pink layer in position on the sweatshirt.

4. Iron On Design. With your iron set to your cotton setting and the heat turned off, start by ironing on the pink layer. Because this layer will be getting more heat later when we apply the black layer, you don’t want to give it too much heat right now. You only need about five seconds of good heat and pressure to get the bottom layer in position. Peel off the plastic carrier sheet, and position the black layer over the pink. Iron for 15-20 seconds making sure to apply heat and pressure to each part of the design.

When you have a good application you should be able to see the texture of the fabric coming through the vinyl. Peel off the carrier sheet, and your new shirt is all ready for wearing!

My little girl was pretty stoked about her cute new llama Christmas sweater. I hope someone in your life will get a kick out of it too.

If you would rather just buy your shirts instead of making them, you can snag one over in my Society6 shop. It’s available in long sleeve or short sleeve tees and as a notecard. 🙂

If you are looking for more Christmas project ideas, don’t miss these other great free cut file designs from some of my blogging friends.

Let it Snow Globe – Liz on Call
Calming Christmas Bath Salts with Free Cut File – Tried & True
Holiday Accent Decor Cut File – 100 Directions
Fa La La Llama – Persia Lou
Home for the Holidays – Printable Crush

If you use my file to make your llama Christmas sweater, I want to see it! Share your photos to my facebook page or tag me on instagram. It always makes my day to see someone using one of my designs. 🙂

Happy Holidays and Happy Making!

Check out more of my free SVG cut files here: