Hey, guys, it’s Katie here! Have you ever had a piece of clothing you find yourself neglecting because it just feels boring? Well, how about customizing it with a little embroidery? Customizing clothing can be a fun way to bring new life to a basic piece. I chose songs lyrics to a song I love to put a little extra pep in my step!
Supplies:
-needle and embroidery floss
-scissors
-basic shirt to stitch on (stiffer fabrics are a little easier)
Step One: Gather your supplies and draw your quote on your shirt. I didn’t use an embroidery hoop for my shirt because I was sewing onto the pocket, but if your shirt doesn’t have a pocket, I fully recommend using one.
Step Two: It’s time to embroider. There are many types of stitches you can use for embroidery, but I chose a very basic backstitch for my design. As you can see above, every time your needle exits the fabric you will take the tip of the needle back into the end of the last stitch. Your needle will come out where you want your next stitch to end.
A few tips that helped me:
- Thicker embroidery floss can be a little easier, but choose a phrase with fewer words, as it will take up more space.
- Iron your design once you are finished. It helps the letters lie flat.
- Just like any embroidered piece, don’t pull your thread too tight. An embroidery hoop can really help with this.
- If you aren’t confident in your own handwriting, create a stencil on your computer or buy letter stencils at your local craft store.
Sure, clothing embroidery is nothing new to the crafting world, but I think it’s a tried and true way to give clothes a little extra personality… and I’m all about that! Happy stitching! xo. Katie
Credits // Author and photography: Katie Shelton. Photos edited with Valentine from the Signature Collection and Petal from the Fresh Collection.
55 Comments
Love this! Such an amazing, but still simple DIY!
You all are the hardest working bloggers out there! Thanks for always sharing a few creative ideas a day! Keep it coming!!
Smashing Pumpkins reference? You should point the young one to it.
I LOVE this! Now my mind’s swimming with ideas: quotes, book excerpts, and of course your example of song lyrics, oh my!!
I saw the preview photo of the quote on Bloglovin’ and knew this would be a Katie post! Love it! P.S. Where are those sunglasses from?! Bonlook? <3
I did my first embroidery this year for marking my kid´s clothes for school
It was not to bad
love this , easy and cute
Soooo creative, I love it! Definitely would rock some Rolling Stones lyrics on it.
thecreativewild.blogspot.com
Yeah but isn’t this song about suicide? Cute idea though…
I saw a picture once of a shirt pocket that was embroidered saying “mermaids don’t do homework” and I have always wanted to do it myself! This is so cute and I love the tied shirt look!
xo, k
KOKAY
Oh I love this! Way way cool. Now I have so many ideas of what I would say!
http://juliettelaura.blogspot.com
aw I love this!
Such a fun easy way to change things up! This will be the first time I want to find something boring in my closet… 🙂
This would probably take me ages! But definitely worth it!
Very fun idea!
Erin, beingerin.com
Love this idea, and the lyrics, love Smashing Pumpkins!
Fun & funky fresh! <3
I hope you have a beautiful day!!! 🙂
xoxo,
the bbb blogger.
http://thebippityboppitybeautifulblog.wordpress.com/
I LOVE this DIY! It´s incredible how perfect this idea is! Especially there are so many perfect quotes at this moment on tumblr <3 Thank you so much for sharing 🙂 xx
Katie, you can pull off absolutely anything. And this is adorable!
Gaaaaaah! I LOVE this!!!!!!!!!
So freaking fun to put fresh and positive messages on your apparel, and doing it with embroidery is just genius!
That’s such a cute idea and it’s absolutely perfect for summer 🙂 She is in a rock band so a band quote makes sense.
Sincerely,
Laurali Star
http://www.thesecretsurprisinista.com/
So cool! What a fun way to make a shirt more personal.
Also, how funny because I was singing “They Only Come Out At Night” because it is Friday the 13th after all…
Finally a sewing/stitching DIY i can actually give a try…;) thank you!
xo
i love this!
What a fun idea!
What a great idea! Simple yet can change something completely!
http://madnessbymeg.blogspot.ie/
Love this idea! Such a fab little quote to write too
Lauren
livinginaboxx
love that its a Smashing Pumpkins lyric (fave band!)! great DIY!
SUCH A CUTE IDEA!!! Must go find a thirfted shirt and try this asap!
Xx from the Girl in the Houndstooth Coat
This is such a great idea! I literally just picked out a few of my favourite quotes and was planning on using iron letters to DIY some plain shirts, but this is a much cooler way! Plus it looks more fun and it probably cheaper too. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
what a cute idea!! love the quote, too!
xxoo,
nikki
http://www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
I love this! Such a great DIY!
Janine Maral from http://www.janinemaral.com/
That is so cool! I always say you guys come up with amazingly obvious but unique ideas. I mean, who ever heard of embroidering a pocket? But why the heck not?
Super cool!
http://theflyingarmchair.me/
Cute!
Perfectly cute idea! And this takes a boring shirt to a unique, fun one! Well done!
Love this! It’s a fresh twist on embroidering clothing. And I’m a sucker for all things quotes … so yeah. 🙂
This is super cute! Definitely going to do this since it’s summer!
http://funkyaj.blogspot.com/
So very cute! I love it!
xoxo
Taylor
wow i like it 🙂
wow i like it
i like it.
http://diletantizam.wordpress.com/
great
This is great! I wish I could sew however.
http://www.dancingthroughsunday.typepad.com
you’re right it’s a simple idea but the possibilities are endless, thanks for the fun inspiration 🙂
http://floatingthrufields.blogspot.com/
i was definitely thinking of doing this on the inside of my denim jacket (a little secret for myself) with neko case’s album name: the worse things get, the harder i fight, the harder i fight, the more i love you 🙂
Such a good DIY! I have so much color thread to try this 🙂
xx
This is a great DIY project. And so simple! Often the most simple ideas are the best and often when I see DIY crafts like this I think to myself: Why didn’t I think of that?!
I love this DIY !!!
This looks exactly like something I just made, crazy! It was for my older brother who is mentally disabled (schizophrenic). A little while ago he found a beatles cover album at a thrift store and lately when he’s been getting agitated with my mom or vice versa they put on “love is all you need” and sing it/yell it as loud as possible and feel better:-) since we’re always trying to get him to dress well or take care of himself, I bought him a nice clean vintage button up shirt at goodwill and embroidered “love is all you need” on the pocket just like this. I could not have imagined how much he’d love it, it’s his favorite thing ever!
Amazing, so simple, so easy, SO edgy!!
What a beautiful idea! I’m so doing this!
Lllllllllllllllllllllllove this song!
wasthinking along the same lines, but a nice concept otherwise
I love this!!! 🙂
I LOVE this DIY! It’s staggering how impeccable this thought is! Particularly there are such a variety of flawless quotes at this minute.
This is so great! I’ve actually been wanting to do a denim embroidery project for a while, and this is just what I needed to get me started!