Hand embroidering a sweatshirt

by JoAnn
(Rome, NY, USA)

Hello - I am making, for the first time, a jacket from a new sweatshirt. It is black and I have used black bias tape down the front and around the end of the sleeves where I removed the cuffs.

I've done a lot of embroidery, but now I want to do something new - hand embroider my new jacket. I plan to use pearl cotton #5 to outline the design and use DMC metallic threadto couch the pearl cotton.

What needles do I use for the metallic thread? I have tapestry for the pearl cotton.

Do I need to use a stabiliser on the back for the length of time I am stitching?

Normally, I use my hands only and no embroidery hoop. While I know this is unusual it works really well for me (I've received a few blue ribbons). I wanted to use satin ribbon and then couch the ribbon, but it was too stiff and would not lay flat on the very curvy outline of the design (meant for a quilting design). Any suggestions would be welcomed. JoAnn


Carol answers...
I haven't stitched on sweatshirt fabric before JoAnn, but I have embroidered on T-shirts, which can be really stretchy!

Iron-on stabilizer is attached to the back side of the fabric to counteract some of that stretchiness. However, when you are using this behind a sweatshirt you may well find that you need to use a sharp needle rather than a blunt tapestry needle. You will find more information about embroidery needles by clicking the link.

With regards to the ribbon outlines. I would suggest that silk embroidery ribbonwould be better for this than satin ribbon. This comes in various widths from a very narrow 2mm to a one inch width. I would imagine a 2 or 4mm would be wide enough for your purposes.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Carol

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