Project: Vintage Lamps Hoodie
So, by now you either have the new patterns in your stitchy little hands, or are anxiously awaiting them. Wanna project ideer? How about this one using the Vintage Lamps and Glow-in-the-Dark thread? What a bright idea...
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Who: You!
What: Hoodie w/ Vintage Lamps and Glow-in-the-dark (GITD) thread
When: Right now! Or, when you have time. Give yourself 1-2 hours
Easiness Level: Beginner to Intermediate
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You'll need:
* GITD Thread (optional, but nice touch!)
*Floss in Pastel Palette (or your choice)
* Stabilizer (optional)
*Basic embroidery supplies of needle, hoop and scissors
* White hoodie, light-colored cotton jacket
(or a shirt you like)
A Note on Knits: Unlike cotton weaves, hoodies and t-shirts are knits, which makes them spongy and stretchy and more challenging to embroider (ie: #$%@!). You may want to use a stabilizer for your project. But, I stitched this hoodie without using a stabilizer, just more patience.
A transfer tip: The best results for getting a pattern on knit fabrics is with an iron-on transfer or transfer pen. Carbon transfer paper, while great for smooth fabrics like cotton weave, just doesn't take too well to spongy, soft surfaces. Dangit!
Oh and: I worked with a hoop on this project. When working with stretchy fabrics on a hoop, be careful not to overdo (overstretch) it. if you really stretch the crud out of your fabric, your work will scrunch up in a way that will make you go boo hoo when you take it off the hoop. There will be no boo'ing and hoo'ing.
INSTRUCTIONS
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Instead of going over the instructions for getting a transfer pattern on fabric (those instructions come in each pack)
or the basics of embroidering, I'm going to show you how to do whipping for the glow-in-the-dark accent.
Let's whip it! We'll whip it good! (You had to see that one coming.)
The GITD thread can be stitched with all by itself, but beause it's
fine (unlike six-stranded floss), I'm going to whip it
around my
already-worked embroidery stitches. Snazzy, huh?
Embroider the design completely. I worked everything in back stitch, which is so easy, but looks so, so...embroidered. After you've finished the embroidery, re-load your needle with GITD thread. I chose to match the color of the GITD thread to the color of each lamp for maximum stealthiness.
Whip It! Come up from behind your fabric just like you would to begin embroidering. Then, pass your needle and thread under and over your stitches, always keeping your needle to the topside of the fabric (like in my photo above, not piercing the fabric). Your stitches will wrap around the worked embroidery like so:
Tip: Try to keep your thread away from the intersections of your embroidery stitches, or the fine GITD thread might
slip between them and get hidden by your embroidery.
slip between them and get hidden by your embroidery.
That's it! Now your hoodie will light up when the lights go down. (Seriously, this thread really glows in the dark).
People will ooh and aah at your cleverness with stitches and admire such a bright idea.
People will ooh and aah at your cleverness with stitches and admire such a bright idea.
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Want more projects? Visit the How-To section!
