|
Opening Garment Linings
|
|
 Stabilizer
can be, to embroiderers, both a blessing
and a curse. Without a good stabilizer
(preferably cutaway), we can't get
crisp, beautiful embroidery ... but its
raw edges (not to mention the back of
the embroidery itself) generally aren't
exactly soft against the skin. Luckily,
there are usually ways to hide it.
One great solution is to let the lining
of jackets, bags, etc. do double duty as
a beautiful disguise for the back of the
embroidery. If you're making an item
from scratch, you can just build it
around the embroidery. But what if you
want to embroider a pre-made item, and
still hide the stabilizer inside the
lining? It's simple to do! We used a
khaki jacket for this example, but it'll
work for anything you can hoop and
stitch.
|
|
|
Choose where you want to
embroider the design. Use a seam
ripper to cut the stitches
holding the garment and lining
together. You'll want to create
a gap large enough that the
lining can be pulled away from
the outer fabric to make room
for hooping. Be careful not to
cut the fabric. |
|
|
|
|
Open up the garment and make
sure you'll be able to hoop flat
the area to be embroidered, on
the outer fabric only. |
|
|
|
Where to open up the garment? Beth offers this advice:
"I learned this
trick when I worked for a tailor doing alterations. If you
look closely at the side seams or follow the side seam up
into the sleeve, you may find a section of the seam that the
manufacturer straight-stitched from the outside of the
lining to close it up. Just open it up again for access to
the garment. You may need to open up the seam a little more
if your design is bigger. After you finish embroidering and
trimming the stabilizer, stitch the seam back up and give it
a little pressing to smooth it out."
|
|
|
Spray your stabilizer (medium
weight cutaway, in most cases)
with temporary spray adhesive,
and smooth it onto the area to
be embroidered. Make sure the
stabilizer will fully cover the
back of the area to be hooped. |
|
|
|
|
Firmly hoop the garment's outer
layer, with the stabilizer
attached. Make sure no parts of
the garment are caught under the
hoop. Depending on the garment
and the location, this may be
tricky ... so be patient and
keep at it! |
|
 |
|
|
Attach the hoop to the machine,
load up the design, and
embroider. |
|
 |
|
|
Unhoop the garment and cut away
the excess stabilizer on the
back. |
|
|
|
|
Now it's time to put it back
together again! Hand-stitch the
gap closed, picking up a bit of
fabric with the needle from one
side, then the other,
alternating until it's all
stitched up. |
|
|
|
|
Voila - a fashionable jacket
with unique embroidery on the
outside - and nothing but silky
lining on the inside! |
|
 |
|
| |
|
 |
|
Kenny is a
master digitizer and Vice President of
Production at Embroidery Library, Inc.
Ask Kenny! Send your questions to
stitch@emblibrary.com.
|
|
|
Click
here for a printable version of this page.
You'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed
on your computer.
If you don't have it, you can download a free copy by
clicking on the icon below.
 |
|
Previous "Korners"
can be found by clicking on the link below:
See Them All |
|
|
|
|