How to embroider your clothes

You can turn a simple T-shirt into a fashion statement or give your old, ripped jeans a new lease of life with a few simple embroidery stitches and a little creativity. Embroidery allows you to jazz up and upcycle old clothes. You can learn simple embroidery stiches in no time at all and use them to spice up your clothes or add a personal touch to your favourite outfits. We'll show you how to embroider your clothes, what materials you will need and give you some helpful tips to make embroidering T-shirts and jeans easier.

The best fabrics for embroidery

You can get as creative as you like when it comes to embroidering clothes. You can simply personalise almost any item of clothing with embroidery. However, each type of fabric has different properties, which is something you should keep in mind when embroidering T-shirts, jumpers and jeans:

• Woven fabrics made of cotton or linen are best suited for beginners, as they are quite hard-wearing and are ideal for your first couple of attempts at embroidery. You can usually just start embroidering on these fabrics, although an embroidery hoop can make your work easier.

• Stretchy fabrics and (knitted) jumpers can be embroidered if you hoop them in an embroidery hoop and use an embroidery stabiliser. This way, nothing can slip or become misshapen whilst embroidering.

• With very thick, hard-wearing fabrics such as denim, you may need to apply a little more pressure when embroidering. It is therefore best to try to skip thick seams and edges when embroidering, as it is often difficult to pierce them with a needle. You should also use an embroidery hoop and stabiliser to ensure a perfect result.

Make sure that you wash your clothing before embroidering. Especially if you want to personalise new clothing, this will ensure that the item of clothing does not shrink and creases do not form in your embroidery.

Embroidery stiches for beginners

Firstly, you should think about what motif you would like to embroider on your clothing. This could be lettering, floral patterns, animal motifs, line art and so much more. You can either design your own motif or look for templates on the internet. Once you have decided what you want to embroider, you can then choose the appropriate stitches.

We have listed some stiches below for beginners:

• The chain stitch forms an uninterrupted line in double thickness. It is particularly suitable for outlines, tendrils or flower stems.

• The backstitch is a simple stitch that gives texts or outlines a clear line.

• The satin stitch is used to fill areas evenly by placing stitches close together to form a closed, smooth surface.

• For a French knot stitch, your thread is wrapped around a needle to form small knots. It is ideal for flower patterns and small dots. The size of the knots vary depending on the number of windings.

• The lazy daisy stitch forms petals that look like a hoop and is ideal for depicting flowers, buds and individual leaves.

There are lots of other types of stitches that you can use to embroider your clothing. You can find detailed instructions for the individual stitches and lots of inspiration online.

Everything you will need to embroider your clothes

You don’t need a lot of things to embroider your clothing:

• Embroidery needle with a large eye

• Embroidery threads, for example, embroidery floss, pearl or linen thread, the more hard-wearing your fabric, the thicker your thread needs to be

• Embroidery hoops will keep your fabric taut, which improves the accuracy of the stitches and reduces the risk of creasing or the fabric becoming misshapen

• An Embroidery stabiliser is used to increase the stability of the fabric during embroidery and to prevent the material from moving or becoming misshapen

• A water-soluble pen to draw your motif

• A pair of fine point scissors with a sharp blade

Below we will show you step by step how to embroider your clothes:

1. Make sure to wash and iron your item of clothing before embroidering it. This will give you a smooth surface.

2. Next, put on the item of clothing and use a water-soluble pen to mark where you want to place your design.

3. Stretch the relevant area in the embroidery hoop. Make sure that the fabric is not overstretched. For fine and stretchy fabrics, you should also hoop a stabiliser to improve stability when embroidering.

4. There are various methods of transferring your chosen design or lettering onto the fabric. You can transfer the design directly onto the fabric using a water-soluble pen or chalk. To do this, you can sketch or print out the motif and hold it against a window so that you can clearly see your design. Alternatively, you can draw your motif on tracing paper or use a water-soluble embroidery stabiliser that you can paint on

5. Now use different stitches to embroider your clothing and bring the motif to life.

6. Knot the threads on the back and cut them off neatly.

7. Remove your stabiliser and wash your item of clothing if necessary, or if you have used a water-soluble pen.

• When embroidering, make sure that the space and length of the stitches are as even as possible. This will give you a neat result.

• When embroidering curves, you should keep the stitches as small as possible so that the outlines on your design look nicely rounded off.

• Try to apply the same amount of pressure on the thread as evenly as possible whilst embroidering. This ensures that the stitches will remain even and will not look misshapen or stand out.

• If you want to embroider over a hole, you should first repair it. Afterwards, you will be able to embroider a larger motif such as a leaf or a sun over it using a satin stitch. If it is a large hole, you can also embroider a piece of fabric and sew it on from behind the hole so that the motif can be seen through the hole.

• If you are not sure whether your threads will really hold by simply knotting them, you can use some fabric glue to fix the ends.

Conclusion: embroidery for beginners

Embroidery allows you to customise your clothing and express your personal style. Embroidery is fantastic for adding a striking design to your clothes to make them stand out or for giving your old items of clothing a second life. By following our tips and step-by-step instructions you can quickly learn the individual stitches and embroider your own little works of art in no time at all.

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References and further information

https://www.anniemorris.co.uk/10-top-tips-for-embroidery-beginners/
(Last accessed on 29.05.2024)

https://cutesycrafts.com/embroidery-stitches
(Last accessed on 29.05.2024)

https://www.dutchlabelshop.com/en_uk/blog/how-to-embroider-clothing-by-hand/
(Last accessed on 29.05.2024)

https://www.gathered.how/needlework/embroidery/embroidery-for-beginners-guide
(Last accessed on 29.05.2024)

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Cover photo: Silvia – stock.adobe.com
1. Image in text: LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS – stock.adobe.com
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