Hey, Everyone! This tutorial has been in the works for a long time. I'm excited to share a new hand-embroidery tutorial with you this week!
One of the fun things about this tutorial is that you can use the fundamentals to basically personalize any item! Think flowers, names, little designs, etc. I'll share more about this at the end. For now...let's get started!
Materials You’ll Need:
Baby Onesie: I'm using Carter's 9M for this tutorial
Embroidery Floss: DMC is my favorite. Check your local craft stores for way cheaper prices than seen on Amazon.
Embroidery Needle: Anything small and sharp will work
Embroidery Hoop: I'm using a 7" hoop for this project.
Sulky Stitch N Stick Stabilizer- More on this is below.
Embroidery Hoop Stand: optional but nice to have!
Scissors: My favorite pair!
More on the Stabilizer: This particular brand of stabilizer is much different than what I use to embroider baby swaddles. It's sticky, which allows you to place it where needed and not move. It's also printable! Purchase or download designs online and print directly onto the stabilizer. When you're finished, it washes away. *PLEASE BE AWARE: Not all printers have ink that washes away so nicely. I strongly suggest doing a practice embroidery run with the stabilizer on a scrap piece of fabric and testing if it washes out before beginning on your onesie or clothing item.
Directions:
-First, we're going to find the center point of the onesie. Do this by folding your onesie perfectly in half (hotdog style). Ensure that the shoulder pieces align and the side seams. Run an iron over this fold to create a center point crease.
-Next, we need to measure the chest of the onesie to decide how big we want our name. Lay a ruler over the chest area and take note of how big you may want your name to be. I chose to go with about 4.5" wide (note: this is a 9-month-sized onesie).
-Prepare your wash-away stabilizer. Make sure to read my notes above on the stabilizer before getting started! Today, I'm using Canva.com to design my name. The video goes into depth on how to do this. While playing with the name, I noticed that the 4.5" I originally planned would leave the name being way too tall. I adjusted accordingly. After finding my favorite font, I print my name onto the stabilizer.
-Cut generously around the piece of stabilizer with your name. I aim to leave about 1" around the entire name. Next, we need to find the center point of our name to align with our shirt. Fold the name in half, aligning the beginning and end of the name, and press the fold to create a crease.
-Remove the paper backing from your stabilizer. Carefully align the crease you made in your stabilizer with the crease you made along the center of the onesie. Make sure that your creases match up at both the top and bottom. We want our name to be embroidered straight. I like to place my name about 1.5" or so down from the neckline, but just eyeball this. We're ready to begin stitching!
-Cut about 36" or less of embroidery floss. For this tutorial, we are using all 6 strands. Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end. Hoop your work.
-I decided to stitch my name using the beginner-friendly backstitch. Find a walk-through on how to do this in the video above. Some tips: Don't pull too tight! This onesie material is pretty stretchy. Just pull enough to get your stitch looking tight. Don't worry about the back- we will cover it up.
-When finished, tie off (refer to the video above for help with this). Next, hold your embroidery under warm running water. Gently agitate your stitches under the water so that all of the stabilizer washes away. You should be able to visibly see that no more stabilizer is left. Ring out your onesie and toss it in the dryer. Once it's dry, if you feel any stabilizer left, repeat this process.
-Following the directions on the soft touch stitch cover, iron a piece to the back of your embroidery work. Double-check your iron settings on this. It may be helpful to do a trial run on a scrap piece of fabric before applying the stabilizer to the back of your work. You're finished!
I hope this post has helped you personalize a baby onesie for your little one. This technique can be used with essentially anything on clothing! Flowers, names, etc. Print from Canva onto your stabilizer and transfer to your clothing to make it your own. Have fun! Tag me with your creations @southernsewingcompany.
Until next time...
-Ashley
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