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Embroidery on Sweatshirts

Embroidery on Sweatshirts

Sweatshirts are a favorite for good reason! They're comfy, classic, and can be styled and modified in endless ways to express your unique personality. Read on to discover how to make your sweatshirt stitching look stellar ... and check out the accompanying Embroidering on Hoodies video to see how it's done!

The designs used in this tutorial include:


Check Meowt

Gather Materials:

To get started on your hoodie, you will need:


  • Your favorite embroidery design (We used the largest version of Check Meowt)
  • A hooded sweatshirt
  • Medium weight cutaway stabilizer
  • Temporary spray adhesive
  • Printed templates of your design(s) for placement
  • Thread for your embroidery
  • Scissors
  • Air erase marker or tailor's chalk
Grey zip-up hoodie, pair of scissors, white roll of stabilizer, and yellow can of KK 100 spray glue on white surface.

Start by unzipping your hoodie (or turning it inside out) and laying it on a clean, flat surface.

Gray sweatshirt held partially open by a hand showing inside seam and fabric texture, lying flat on a white surface. No embroidery visible.

Adhere your medium weight cutaway stabilizer with temporary spray adhesive to the back of the area you plan to embroider.

Hand placing a white fusible stabilizer sheet on a gray sweatshirt laid flat on a white surface, preparing for embroidery.

Now for placement. Using printed templates of your design will make it easy to map out exactly where each embroidered piece will go. (Here's more on how to print templates.)


Use an air erase pen or chalk to mark the center and the vertical axis points of the design onto the garment. Use a ruler to draw a straight line connecting and extending each of the marks. You will need these to line up exactly with the crosshairs on your embroidery hoop.

Hand holding a pen over a gray sweatshirt with a paper pinned on it showing a cat wearing sunglasses and the text "CHILL MEOWT.

Start Embroidering:

Hoop your fabric and stabilizer together, taut and use your marked points on your fabric to line up with your embroidery hoop's crosshairs.


Start embroidering!

Close-up of a sewing machine embroidering a gray sweatshirt with a cartoon hedgehog wearing purple sunglasses and the text "YOUTH MEDIUM.

When you are done stitching, carefully trim the excess stabilizer from the back of the embroidery design.

Gray sweatshirt with a partially peeled white paper transfer showing an embroidered cat wearing sunglasses, with the text "CHECK MEOW" around it.

Your newly embellished hoodie is ready to wear! Slip it on and enjoy a garment that's uniquely you.

Person wearing light gray hoodie with embroidery on back showing a cat face with sunglasses and the text "CHECK MEOWT," outdoors with blurred green foliage background.