And if you're new to embroidery, YouTube and Pinterest will be your bestie! Just search for the name of the stitch you're needing a live demonstration of, and you'll discover oodles of videos to help you get the hang of a certain stitch.
How to Personalize a Flower Girl Shirt with Embroidery
Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium
PROJECT MATERIALS
• Embroidery stick and stitch patches (we used Wildflowers from Tales from the Hoop)
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery hoop
• Sewing needles
• Embroidery scissors
• Blank t-shirt
• Scrap of fabric
• Small bowl of cool-warm water
INSTRUCTIONS
1. First, you'll need to learn your stitches! If you'd like to create your design like we have, you'll need to learn four basic stitches: holding stitch (to start and hold your beginning thread), satin stitch (for the leaves and petals), colonial or French knot (for the daisy center), and stem stitch (for the heart and stems). There are so many fun stitches out there. Feel free to experiment with them to see which ones you want to use for your project.
2. Using a fabric scrap, you'll want to try your hand at each stitch until you're comfortable enough to start on your shirt. One great thing about embroidery is that it can be very forgiving as you can just start over by a little snip or stitch. The fabric you're stitching on might not be as forgiving (such as silks or stretchy fabrics), so keep that in mind for your projects. Be patient with yourself and eventually you'll find it rather relaxing!
3. Using your embroidery hoop, enclose your t-shirt to the spot where you'll be stitching. Choose your design from your stick-and-stitch patches and place on your t-shirt. You can move it around as needed, but once you start stitching, it stays in place! Make sure you place it exactly where you want it on your shirt. Since these "stickers" are water soluble, be sure to keep away from liquids just in case!
4. Now stitch away! Since embroidery takes awhile to do, we have sped up the process to the end of stitching for this tutorial. (It's the perfect road trip or night on the couch activity!) When you're finally done with your embroidering, you'll want to finish off the design by needling thread through the backs of your stitches. Snip away your holding stitch as that was only created to keep your thread in place and remove embroidery hoop from your shirt.
5. With cool-warm water in a bowl, place your shirt's embroidered patch into the water and gently rub to remove the stick-and-stitch patch away from your design until fully gone. It's like magic as the water dissolves the patch! Allow to dry and get ready for the cutest flower girl ever!
TUTORIAL CREDITS
Photography & DIY Tutorial: Chelsea Barton (originally designed for Jen of Something Turquoise) | Embroidery Kit & Thread: Tales from the Hoop via Etsy | Embroidery Scissors: Amazon
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