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Adding Embroidery to Clothing

Mar 01, 2020

The first piece of clothing that I tried to embroider on was a denim jacket for my first niece. I was determined to create something for her that I had not ever created for anyone else before (she’s one of the sweetest, cutest kids ever and she made me an aunt, so….). At this point, I had already been embroidering on fabric for a couple of years, so I knew that the change in fabric would present some new challenges. Thankfully, because it was a denim jacket for a baby, it was softer than your average denim, so I kinda lucked out there.


Other than needing to be flexible with working with something bulkier, and using a bigger needle to make sure that I wouldn’t snap it, the project actually went quite well! I used my favorite water soluble pen to sketch my design on the denim, loaded it up in an embroidery hoop, and got to work! I didn’t feel the need to use any stabilizer because the denim didn’t stretch or pull in the hoop, which was a total win as well.



Once my second niece was born, I knew I had to make something for her (because she is also one of the sweetest, cutest kids ever, so….)! I wanted to make her something that could potentially be a bit more versatile, so I decided to try a hooded sweatshirt. This was a bit more complicated because I needed to use a stabilizersince the fabric was a bit more stretchy. But as before, I drew my design on the sweatshirt with my favorite pen, loaded up the stabilizer and fabric into a hoop, and got stitching. It was a bit more tricky because of the stretch in the fabric, but in the end it turned out pretty well!


More recently, I decided that I needed to embroider something for myself! (I rarely do this, which I’m fine with, but it was time!) I’ve been really into embroidering hens lately, so I wanted to spruce up one of my favorite pull-over sweatshirts with a small hen near the collar. I have started making and selling embroidery transfer stickers so I took one of them, stuck it to the sweatshirt where I wanted it, put the fabric in an embroidery hoop, and added my hen in no time at all! The transfer sticker doesn’t include the chicken tracks that I ended up adding, but it was no big deal to add them! 


If you’ve ever thought about adding embroidery to clothing, I hope you’ll give it a try! Whether as a gift for someone or as something for yourself, adding this kind of personal touch to something wearable can be fun and expressive!


Are you a pro and embroidering on fabric? Or do you have any questions about anything I've mentioned here? I love hearing tips and tricks and talking about embroidery - drop me a message if you'd like!


-Heather