How to Decorate Sweaters With Embroidery Floss

Embroidery on a jacket that can be done on a sweater.

Embroidery is a needle craft that uses floss and yarns to decorate other fabrics. Often embroidery uses a wide variety of stitches to create the types of designs and decorations the crafter wants to showcase. These stitches are combined with different types of threads and yarns to further add dimension to the design. Embroidery is a three-dimensional, raised design that brings the imagery into a state where you can literally touch the flowers or vines. Embroidering on a sweater requires some fabric stabilization, but it can be accomplished by most crafters who like working with needles.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Colored pencils or markers
• Water-soluble fabric pen
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needle
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Lay the sweater flat on the table and trace the shape of the area you want to embroider onto a piece of paper. Tape two pieces of paper together if you have small paper sheets.

2. Draw a design on the paper that you want to embroider onto the sweater. Draw first with a pencil, then finish the design by coloring each element in the color of yarn or thread you want to use. This is your design pattern for the project. If you are embroidering several areas of the sweater, make a separate pattern for each area.

3. Transfer the design from the paper to the sweater using a water-soluble fabric pen. This type of pen will wash off when you launder the sweater later. Place your pattern close to the sweater and draw on the sweater, moving the pattern back and forth as you work to make sure the design is about the same on both the pattern and the sweater.

4. Attach your sweater to an embroidery hoop. Choose a hoop that is adjustable with a screw tightener along the outer hoop. It is important to stabilize the fabric, but you don't want to crush the sweater or stretch it out of shape, so don't make the hoop as tight as you would with a less stretchable fabric.

5. Cut embroidery floss to 18 to 24 inches in the color you want . You can use the full thickness of floss or separate the floss into thinner strands, depending on your design and the thickness you want. Bring your needle up from the underside. Do not make a knot in the end of the thread. Allow 1 inch of thread to remain loose on the inside of the sweater.

6. Embroider using one of the dozens of stitches, such as a satin stitch or a running stitch. As you work, trap the loose end of the thread with your stitches. When you reach the end of your thread, take your needle to the underside and slide the needle under some existing stitches so that the last of the thread is trapped. Thread your needle and continue.

Tips & Warnings

• A satin stitch is commonly used for flower petals. Begin this stitch by bringing the thread up from underneath the fabric, and then take your needle across the petal and down. Bring your needle up again one or two needle-widths away from your first stitch and repeat. Make a running stitch by taking the needle up and down every 1/8 inch along a single line. These two stitches will allow a beginner to get started with almost any design.

References

• Family Fun.go.com: Embroidered Sweater
• In a Minute Ago: Sharon b's Dictionary of Stitches for Hand Embroidery and Needlework