Embroidery is so effective for adding unique decoration to clothes and accessories. It’s also perfect for refreshing and upcycling older clothes to make them feel new again.
You only need some basic supplies for your project. These are the main items you’ll need:
Embroidery design
Item of clothing (I’m going to decorate a trouser pocket)
Needle
Thread
Scissors
When you’re choosing embroidery threads look for good quality brands. I use DMC but there are plenty of alternatives. Check reviews to make sure that it’s colour fast - you don’t want the dyes from cheaper threads to ruin your clothes.
Choose a needle that’s strong enough to stitch through the fabric you’ve chosen. Regular sewing or embroidery needles will be fine with most fabrics. If you’re stitching on denim or leather make sure you have a sturdy needle and a thimble.
These supplies aren’t essential but you might find them useful: an embroidery hoop, fabric markers and permanent fleece stabiliser.
First decide how you will transfer your embroidery design to the clothes. You can buy pre-printed designs, or draw your own on blank stabiliser with a fabric marker.
Test the marker on a hidden area first, to make sure that it doesn’t leave a mark after the ink disappears.
Embroidery stickers on wash away stabiliser are a quick and easy method for transferring a design to fabric. The stabiliser washes away completely in warm water. The pattern is easily visible, even on darker fabrics.
Place your design where you want to stitch it. You can experiment with placement first to see where the pattern looks most effective.
An embroidery hoop isn’t essential for embroidering on clothes, as the fabric won’t always be taut, but it can make it easier to stitch.
I stitched an ox eye daisy first and added common daisies later. I used twisted lazy daisy stitch for the petals and French knots for the centres. You can find instructions for these stitches and others in my stitch library, if you’d like some suggestions for stitching techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5GoJm8wxHjR4fpCvBnZf1-hQRe8TRjL0
I’ve chosen a long stitch for my ox eye daisy petals, and I hope that the twists and the anchoring stitches help to keep them from being too muddled in a machine wash. I will have to wash the trousers inside out from now on to protect the stitching, or wash them by hand.
Ideally I should choose shorter stitches for embroidering on clothes, as they would be more robust and less fluid. I’ve decided to take a chance here though because I really like how the ox eye daisy petals look.
Wash away the stabiliser or fabric markers once the design is complete. Soak the fabric thoroughly in warm water.
Water soluble stabilisers are made from PVA (polyvinyl alcohol). It’s a naturally biodegradable substance and is safe to dissolve in water.
After that, dry your embroidery flat and only iron it on the reverse.
If you like, you can use a permanent fleece stabiliser on the reverse of the embroidery when you’re finished. This helps to protect the threads from unravelling in the washing machine and - depending where the stitching is - can make the design more comfortable for wearing.
I’ve used Sulky Tender Touch, which is an iron-on fleece backing.
Cropped trousers all daisied up and ready for summer!
These daisies are from my mini wildflower set:
https://sweetthorn.co.uk/products/mini-meadow-set
Find all my embroidery stickers here: https://sweetthorn.co.uk/collections/stick-and-stitch-designs
Video Instructions: