Monday 12 August 2013

Embroidery on Kiddie Clothes - 1

Before I got my sewing - machine, I was dabbling in painting and embroidering on clothes. Although I've done bits and pieces for myself, the most satisfying experience is when I embroider kiddie clothes. I think it has something to do with the fact that each garment is so itty-bitty, and gets done quickly! :)

One of the most awesome stitches to do on tiny items is the Open Feather Stitch. It's simple, rapidly completed, and yet manages to look detailed and stylish. (OK, so stylish doesn't apply that well with a kiddie top. But it does look stylish. More on that later). The important thing is to choose a good design, and the right colours. A lovely tutorial to using the feather stitch is here. I have been using this stitch for over a decade and a half now; but for a beginner, Sarah provides lucid and clear instructions. Initially, it can be a tad difficult to get the side branches to look even; so I would recommend penciling in lines to ensure that it looks good.
For the kiddie items, I like to go with a basic tree / bush / coral reef pattern. The design is uni-sex, and that is a tremendous help here in India, where it's illegal to identify the sex of an unborn child. And since I certainly lack this little thing called drive-to-work-rapidly, I need to bet started on stuff before babies arrive! :P

Now to the specifics! For the first piece that had sleeves, the branches for each tree were more delicate, and a li'l branch went onto each of the sleeves. The shirt was a pale green, and so I chose my favorite red and purple embroidery threads.
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The other shirt was a much brighter orange, and so I decided to use red and mustard threads to make it look fun. This was also a larger size, and so the trees got a bit bigger, with branches spaced out a tad bit more. It's awesome how a teeny bit more space between stitches can change the way the design feels. This shirt had a little space between buttons, and so I decided to add a couple of mustard branches between buttonholes - two reasons.... it looked a tad special; and I finished the length of mustard thread I had cut!

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Two hours of T.V and embroidery, and these were ready to roll. More stitches to be discussed soon!

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