Things You'll Need:
- Polar fleece
- Iron on medium weight stabilizer
- Thread
- Embroidery needle for the sewing machine
- Embroidery foot for the sewing machine
- Embroidery hoop
- Scissors
- Sewing chalk
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Step 1
Pre-wash the fleece in cold water with gentle laundry detergent. Allow to dry. Draw the design on the right side of fabric with sewing chalk if you're not using a digital sewing machine with preloaded designs.
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Step 2
Apply the medium-weight stabilizer to the wrong side of the fleece using an iron on the permanent press setting. Use a dry iron with no steam. The stabilizer should cover an area larger than the design to be embroidered. If the area to be embroidered is on a collar or sleeve, tear-away stabilizer is preferred.
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Step 3
Place the area to be embroidered into a hoop. If the sewing machine has an embroidery hoop, use that one. Otherwise, use a small plastic or wood hoop designed for hand embroidery. The hoop should be larger than the design to be embroidered, but small enough to fit into the sewing machine. The polar fleece fabric should be tight but not stretched.
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Step 4
Place the embroidery sewing foot (if your machine has one) on the sewing machine. Insert an embroidery needle into the machine. Thread the machine with the color of thread desired. Be sure that the bobbin is threaded correctly. Depending on the type of sewing machine, the steps differ.
For embroidery sewing machines that have preloaded designs: select the design you want. The machine's display will show which presser foot and needle to use. Insert the hoped fabric. On the display will be the default size of the design. Enlarge or decrease the size to suit your needs.
For sewing machines with manual settings: select the embroidery stitch, and for polar fleece use a slightly longer stitch length. Lift the presser foot and insert the hooped fabric. -
Step 5
Embroidery sewing machines will be semi-automated. Press start and the sewing machine will do most of the work for you. Embroidery on a manual machine will require that you feed the fabric through the machine and change threads according to the pattern.
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Step 6
When finished be sure to make a backstitch to lock in the thread. Snip the thread from the top and bottom. Lift the presser foot and remove the hoop. Remove the fabric from the hoop immediately. Trim any loose threads close to the fabric. Gently press the item with a dry iron if needed. Tear-away stabilizer should be removed at this point.
