Up for a Challenge? Try Embroidery on Clothing like Shirts & Shorts

Embroidered Shirt 

Embroidery is using needlework to decorate a fabric with other materials such as thread or yearn. Embroidery can also have peals, beads, and many more incorporated in the stitch. Not only is embroidery on shirts but it's also on dresses, shirts, hats etc. Embroidery can be hands on your mechanically threaded on a fabric.  

Materials Needed

- Plain T-shirt 

- Embroidery thread 

- Needle 

- Embroidery hoop

Step by Step Process with Pictures 

I started off with a blank crew neck T-shirt. Within this process you need to think of, what will you embroider on the shirt. It can be a quote, a small picture, what ever your heart desires. For my own shirt I've chosen the quote, "I live life on the edge." Quite edgy huh? 













The next step is actually using the embroidery hoop. It is as simple as it can be. The only confusing part is which part goes where on the fabric. Which is why a video will be posted in the bottom of this tutorial. 















After threading everything together you should have something like the picture on the left or even better! It is totally fine if the letters or an outline of something is a little rusty. 

TIP - when threading a shirt that's thin, make sure to use another fabric to cover up the threading in back.

Embroidered Shorts 

Materials Needed

- Pair of shorts 

- Embroidery thread 
- Washable marker

- Needle 

Instead of buying new shorts I used one of my old shorts to embroider. 

To get inspiration I went on to the famous website - Tumblr - to find a picture. With this picture I used it as a reference for what I'd embroider on my shorts. 

Once I've chosen the picture, I went on and used a washable marker to draw an image that I wanted to create on the shorts.

As seen in the picture I started out threading the easier parts which was the vase/bottle.

When threading by hand make sure to take small breaks to stretch out you fingers. If you don't then it'll start to hurt or your hand might cramp up. 

Along the way I've changed the way I threaded which created a minor flaw. Overall the ending product should look what it should've look like, from a reference picture or free-styling it.

FAQ's

Are there alternative tools instead of using a needle to thread with?

Yes, there are. There are such things as a punching needle sort of does the job and makes the process much more faster.

Does it work only on a certain fabric?

There are different types of embroidery needles, it ranges in sizes to match the fabric.

How do you use an embroidery hoop?

Click on this link : Using an embroidery hoop