applique

Clothes, Tutorials

DIY Embroidered Appliqué

A few months ago I came across a sweater that I totally fell for. It was the embroidered crane sweater from the Altuzarra for Target collection. I just loved the design and the placement of it, but of course, being the crafter that I am, I ended up talking myself into embroidering some of my own designs and throwing them onto a sweater to create something that has the same feeling like the original sweater. So today's project is going to be the embroidered appliqué that I made to attach to a thrifted sweater.

Keep reading for a video summary!

suppliesHere's what you'll need. You'll want to cut the water soluble fabric and tulle to fit your embroidery hoop.

01Draw your design onto some water soluble fabric.

02Take the middle hoop and drape the black tulle and water soluble fabric over it and then push the outer hoop over it all and tighten the hoop slightly. You'll want to keep it loose enough to be able to pull the fabric in the hoop, but tight enough to keep it in place once you've pulled it.

Work around the hoop gently pulling the fabric taut. Then finish tightening the hoops all the way.

03Embroidery time! I was totally inspired by Michele Carragher's embroidery style. I'm not really going to go into detail about how to do this part because I was just kind of winging it and doing what felt right for that part of the design. According to my research I was using a combination of stem stitches, detached chain stitches and split stitches. And of course I added some beads and jump rings as embellishments.

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05Here it is all finished! Well, the embroidery part anyway.

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To secure the thread ends and to make sure nothing moves too much, paint a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the back of the design. It's important to use Mod Podge because once its dry it isn't water soluble so you wouldn't have to worry about washing the glue away whenever you did laundry.07Tear off as much of the water soluble fabric as you can.

08Trim the excess tulle away leaving 1/8 inch on the edges.

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You can see here where the water soluble fabric didn't tear away, so off to the sink I was.10Under running water, gently rub the areas where the water soluble fabric is still clinging on for dear life. It will dissolve away.

11I made two mirrored embroidered appliqué designs and sewed them on the shoulders of a thrifted sweater.

And...

12Finished!

I hope you enjoyed this project! I actually like it a lot more than the original sweater I based this project on. This is my first major embroidery project so if anyone has any better techniques or anything like that for me then please leave a comment! :D

Stay tuned for some holiday goodness next week!