Need Help Desperately!

I need to create a distress effect on a multi-color image that will be printed as a DTF transfer.  I want the distress to be transparent so the color of the shirt shows through the distressed holes. I have tried taking a vector distress image and trimming it from the main design but it takes forever and locks up my computer or it destroys the image. I know there has to be an easier way to do this.  Please help I have been working on this for 2 days and I can't find any video on the web that has helped me.