You can create a Nike T-shirt on your own. Don’t you believe me? Yes, even without spending much money. Let’s make it possible by learning how to embroider a shirt and produce loads of customized and branded look-alike shirts for yourself.
Even as a beginner, you can yield a single shirt in an hour by spending only around $10 on it. Embroidery is a dying art of embellishing and decorating garments, hats, textiles, etc., which is inexpensive and easy.
If you are a fashionista, then read this amazing guide to find out embroider a shirt with your own normal embroidery machine.
Learning How To Embroider A Shirt By Hand in 2023
It’s always handy to learn embroidery with your own two hands because cheap machines can give up on you in desperate times.
If you can sew, then learning to embroider a shirt by hand won’t be a big deal. However, if you’re scratching your head in confusion right now, then don’t worry.
- Let us first start from scratch. All you need is a pair of hands, a needle, a thread, and fabric to work on, and that’s about it.
- It is starting from the easiest and basic hand stitch which is the ‘running stitch.’ First, thread the needle and tie a knot so that it forms a loop.
- Now, the next step is to poke the needle into the fabric from the back to the front. Do the same again. But this time from the front to back, after deciding the space you want to keep between the stitches.
- Keep on doing this in the up and down movement and finish with a knot. Now you are good to go to try out other complicated stitches.
- Once you master this, start learning other types of stitches such as the ‘satin stitch,’ which will help learn to embroider a heart on a shirt.
- Some other stitches like the ‘blanket stitch’ or the ‘stem stitch’ will aid you in learning to embroider a butterfly on a shirt along with any other curvy object such as a flower.
- You will miss out a lot if you don’t learn to embroider words on a shirt.
- You can do the backstitch to make names, quotes, logos and so much more, and thank me later.
Tools Needed For Embroider A T-Shirt
There are different tools and machines needed for specific products, such as hat embroidery with multiple needles that are required for hats.
Similarly, a T-shirt also requires embroidery hoops, shirt fabric, and a different kind of commercial embroidery machine.
Time to stock up on the necessary materials you need before you learn to embroider a shirt. So what’s in an embroidery kit?
Embroidery Floss
Pick the right color and size of the embroidery floss or thread according to the design. For example, we are using thin metallic threads for delicate and polyester for thick designs.
It is also ideal to use the same material of thread and fabric. Cotton threads are inflexible and best for quilts as they don’t get out of shape with time.
Needle
An embroidery needle has a giant eye compared to a standard needle. To get efficient results, you need durable and strong needles so that they do not break in between and interrupt the work.
Of course, you need threads, needles, and scissors for this task, but if you want to give a hardcore result, the following tools will boost your skills.
Stabilizer
The addition of stabilizers is critical for machine embroidery. It omits the chances of plucking and distortion of the fabric. It is specifically helpful for heavy embroidery on light fabrics and gives additional support.
There are different types of stabilizers, for example, cut-away, tear-away, wash away, heat away, and spray away stabilizers.
Embroidery Hoop
The embroidery hoops keep the stabilizer and fabric secure and tightly in place so that you make the stitch on the precise position simultaneously.
Hoops are available in different sizes and materials. The spring tension embroidery hoop, screw-top embroidery hoop, and runner embroidery hoop are, to name a few.
Water Soluble Pen
With a water-soluble pen, you can make a blueprint before you start. Create the embroidery design following the marks you made and wash the remaining later.
Iron
Wash and dry the shirt to clean it, and in case it shrinks. After that, Iron will provide a wrinkle-free and smooth surface to work on.
Let’s Start to Learn
Let’s finally begin to learn and start with the process step by step.
Draw a Design
Plan and draw the design you have in mind on the shirt using a water-soluble pen for hand embroidery—lookup for designs on your computer as well.
You can use a dressmaker’s Carbon paper and transfer a printed design onto the shirt using a hot iron. An alternative to a dressmaker’s carbon paper can be tracing paper and be transferred by the same technique.
Stabilize Fabric with Press
Cut the right size of the stabilizer, fix it into position, and attach it to the inner side of the T-shirt. Use an adhesive that is used to glue it to its place while the machine does its work.
Use a pressing technique, which adds stiffness to the fabric by using a pressing spray or starch solution. The cut-away stabilizer is the best choice for T-shirts for a soft backing on the stretchy fabric of the shirt.
Hoop The Fabric
Now, the next step is to hoop the fabric. First, select the size of the embroidery hoop according to the size of the design you are about to make on your shirt.
Then position the hoop, open the outer ring and insert the shirt in the hoop. The shirt is sandwiched between the stabilizer and the embroidery hoop.
Stretch the fabric, keep it taut and close the screw as tightly as you can. Remove the hoop as soon as you are done to prevent it from leaving any circular marks.
You should also know how to embroider a shirt without a hoop as it is challenging to hoop some areas such as the collar and cuffs.
For that, you can use an alternative like a scroll frame or practice hand embroidery by using one of your hands to stretch the fabric as a hoop would.
Stitch On T-shirt
Since you are done with setting up everything, now it’s time to unleash your creativity. Use different types of stitches and colored threads.
Use the running stitch and backstitch for outlines.
Try the French knot for flowers, a woven wheel stitch for circular patterns like a rose, and fill them up by using the satin stitch.
Before you start, you can watch videos on how to embroider patches or embroider a shirt pocket with designs if you are still confused.
Follow the traditional hand embroidery techniques or use the home embroidery machine and get work done quicker.
Remove Stabilizer
Removing the stabilizer depends on the type you used. If you used the cut-away stabilizer, then make an initial cut and trim away the excess.
Leave the remaining stabilizer. This way, the embroidery will not irritate the skin when you wear the shirt. Other stabilizers are removed, as their name suggests, such as washing the wash away, heating the heat away, and tearing out the tear-away stabilizer.
Give A Great Finish
After completion of your design, make sure there are no pieces of stabilizer left. It can get pretty annoying if they stick to your skin later.
Also, make sure there are no marks on the embroidery hoops. If any marks are visible, wash the shirt and Iron it to give the ultimate and presentable finish.
Conclusion
I bet you are ready to go for your very own design for a personal T.shirt. I answered all the possible queries you were looking for in this article.
These are all the tips, techniques, and secrets I have to offer based on when I made an Adidas sports shirt, and people thought it was store-bought (lol).
You should also go for learning to embroider a shirt in 2023 with new technology offered by brother. Brother is a reliable Brand and offers the best sewing machines. It is my favorite beginner’s embroidery machine for computerized embroidery using modern computerized software and an LCD screen connected to a USB.
So next time you are standing up for university elections, DIY your own embroidered shirt. A shirt that represents you with your creativity by learning how to embroider a shirt.
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