Quick and easy DIY embroidered shirt. A step by step tutorial on how to hand embroider perfect for beginners.
Adding embroidery to a shirt with stretchy fabric its easy to do, with the right preparation and a little patience. The biggest challenge when embroidering on shirt its making the design, so it won’t become distorted when the fabric stretches. Here is how I’m doing embroidery by hand, with step by step instructions perfect for beginners.
How To Embroider A Shirt By Hand
1. Supplies
- Embroidery hoop
- Hot fix rhinestone applicator ( optional )
- Silicone pad ( optional )
- Embroidery needle
- Embroidery floss
- Iron
- Heat transfer vinyl
- Alphabet cutting dies
- Heart cutting dies
- Sizzix big shot machine
2. Preparing The Shirt
Start by preparing your supplies and the shirt you want to embroider. Pick a design you want to embroider and print it on paper. I used a little pigtails girl. Place the design inside the shirt and trace the drawing using a pencil, then fix the embroidery hoop around the drawing. Try not to stretch the fabric as it will distort your design when finished.
3. Hand Embroidering
Embroider the shoes using a chain stitch. If this is your first time doing embroidery, you can follow along with the video tutorial. Use the colors of the embroidery floss as you like. For the legs I used a back stitch. If the thread ends before you finish, make a knot on the inside of the shirt. Cut the thread away from the knot, so it will not come undone when washing. Continue embroidering using a new thread.
Finish embroidering the dress using the back stitch, and for the pigtails I used the same chain stitch used for the shoes. To create the eyes and the freckles I used a French knot stitch. If you follow along with my video tutorial, when you finished embroidering, place a silicone pad under the dress. I used rhinestones to decorate the dress, and I fixed them with a hot fix applicator. When you finished everything, start ironing the embroidered shirt to prepare it for some optional extra touches.
4. Decorating The Shirt With Transfer Vinyl
Make sure you place the vinyl with the protective layer facing up. This time I used a cutting dies set for the letters and the hearts. Start by cutting anything you need for the design you wish to create. Place them in the desired spot, then fix them using an iron and let them cool down. Remove the protective layer, and iron them again by placing some backing paper on top. Your personalized embroidered shirt is finished and ready to be worn. Did you like the article ? Check more from our needlecrafts articles.
