I have been a Swiftie since 2008, and in 2023, I fully re-entered my Taylor Swift era. Recently, my younger cousins have also become extra obsessed. I told them I’ve been waiting over a decade for this! With this in mind, I made the cutest 1989 Taylor Swift sweatshirts for my cousins and best friend this Christmas. It is their favorite album, and they were SO EXCITED when they opened their gifts on Christmas. It made my heart so happy!
Another plus – these 1989 Taylor Swift sweatshirts were a super easy Cricut project. Design, test cuts, real cuts, weeding, and ironing took less than 2 hours for 4 sweatshirts. (I made more with my friend later too. Read to the end for a reputation sweatshirt sneak peek too!)
These sweatshirts are a great addition to your Taylor Swift merchandise collection, or a cheaper/more personalized alternative to more expensive options. Enjoy the post!
Disclaimer: This is not official merchandise from Taylor Swift. This DIY, use of fonts, and design are solely for personal use. Please use the fonts I linked and designs at your own discretion.
Taylor Swift Sweatshirt Materials
To make a similar Taylor Swift sweatshirt, here’s what you’ll need:
Sweatshirt(s) – I really like the Gildan sweatshirts. I ordered from Amazon in a variety of blue colors – light blue, Carolina blue, and indigo blue). They are super soft inside and the brand is reliable.
I like an oversized sweatshirt, so ordered a size L. The size S also fits me, so order what size you prefer for the coziest and cutest fit!
Vinyl – I used white and black vinyl on top of all the blue sweatshirts. If you use a different color sweatshirt, make sure to use 2 different vinyl colors that have enough contrast to show up.
From my research/experience, most brands perform similarly. Use whatever HTV vinyl you have on hand or have available to you!
Other equipment – Iron or heat press, tools for weeding, scissors or paper cutter if available
The 1989 Sweatshirt Design
The most important part of the design are the fonts. Here are the ones I found online and used – shoutout to the Swifties for creating/identifying for me!
1989 Font – Taylor Swift Handwriting
Taylor’s Version Font – Carla Sans
I designed the 1989 sweatshirt directly in Cricut. For the 1989 font, I stretched it vertically a bit to get the look I wanted. For the Taylor’s version, I increased the letter space to 1.7.
To stretch vertically: Convert your text to a “shape” by clicking Combine > Weld (as shown to the right). Then, you can adjust the dimensions and size more easily.
I’ve included a screenshot of my design so you can see the measurements.
Note – I used a long mat and/or Smart Vinyl for the black letters. You may need to adjust the size of your design if you don’t have either of these options available.
Total Design Size – 12 x 5.68 inches
Making the Sweatshirt
To make the sweatshirts, here are the general steps I followed. For a more Cricut and ironing tips, check out my previous post where I made DIY Formula 1 T-shirts!
Note – I used to use a normal home iron, which works fine. Recently, I’ve been using the Cricut mini heat press! It is small, but I highly recommend heat presses for HTV projects for more consistency and even application. If you don’t have, a traditional home iron (with steam function = off) works great too.
- Iron your sweatshirt to remove excess wrinkles.
- Use the Cricut to cut your designs. Make sure to mirror, then trim/weed.
- Apply the white 1989 to the top center of the sweatshirt and iron/heat press once in desired position.
- Let completely cool, then remove plastic backing.
- Repeat steps 3-4 with black Taylor’s Version text.
- Lay parchment paper on top of the design, and then re-iron/heat press to ensure strong adhesion and transfer to the shirt
- Done!
Other Taylor Swift Sweatshirt Idea – Reputation Sweatshirt
Here’s a quick sneak peak on another Taylor Swift sweatshirt I made with my friend. We used a dark grey Gildan sweatshirt with black vinyl. The OPTI Engravers Old English font was a perfect fit for “reputation” while this folklore font (IM Fell DW Pica) was used for the “taylor’s version.”
(And yes, we know that reputation (Taylor’s Version) has not been released yet. We are manifesting it – haha!)
Enjoy this quick and easy Taylor Swift and Cricut DIY!
If you liked this post, you might also like my other Cricut project posts. Check them out below!
