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Hooping 101: Embroidering on Pockets
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Hooping 101: Embroidering on Pockets
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I oftentimes think of
pockets as the "final
frontier" in embroidery.
When embroidering on jeans,
a pocket is a great place to
add a little design to tie a
theme together; and, on a
shirt, putting a design on a
pocket is a small and subtle
statement. Pockets are like
little spotlights for
embroidery designs.
But embroidering on pockets
can be a mystery. How is it
hooped? Does the entire
pocket need to come off, and
if so, how does it go back
on? How much plotting and
scheming does one need to do
in order to stitch onto a
pocket?
I'm taking the plunge for
you. I grabbed a variety of
pocket-laden items --
shirts, a pair of jeans, and
an apron. And then I found
my favorite seam-ripper and
documented every step along
the way. There's a little
plotting and scheming
involved, but I was
surprised at how simple and
straightforward the process
is. I think you'll agree. |
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The first
item that I worked with was
an adult-sized denim shirt.
I started with this because
I have a five in my closet,
so if I worked on one until
it was beyond hope and
unsalvageable, I had easy
access to more.
This shirt is an old one, so
any shrinkage occurred long
ago. If you're starting with
a new one, launder it and
tumble dry before
embroidering on it.
I turned the shirt inside
out, took a deep breath,
thought "No guts, no glory!"
and started ripping the
seams along the sides and
bottom. I left the top right
and left corner stitches
intact. |
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Remove the
side and bottom stitches of the
pocket, leaving it attached by the top
stitches |
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My next step was to
determine placement and back
the fabric with stabilizer.
The shirt is cotton, so I
chose a medium-weight
cutaway stabilizer.
I knew that I wouldn't be
able to hoop the pocket so
that all the sides of the
fabric were in the hoop.
When I work with items where
a side or two are not in the
hoop, I take precautions to
make sure that the fabric
and stabilizer are nice and
tight. In this instance I
sprayed the stabilizer with
a temporary adhesive (KK100)
and smoothed the pocket on
top.
In this photo I'm using
an air-erase pen to mark the
center of the design as well
as the horizontal and
vertical axis lines. |
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I measured
axis lines for the pocket
bottom only, not
including the flap |
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The pocket has a flap so
I've pinned it out of the
way to keep it clear of the
needle. |
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Use
temporary spray adhesive
to affix
the pocket to the stabilizer. |
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When you're working with a
pocket that is still
attached to the garment, it
helps to have a large
surface area of stabilizer.
That's why I'm using a large
hoop.
I used a liberal amount of
adhesive spray to make sure
that the fabric didn't shift
around when I was
embroidering on it.
I also took great care in
making sure that the shirt
was folded and out of the
way so it wouldn't interfere
with the movement of the
hoop. |
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Fold the
rest of the shirt safely out of the way! |
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After the design finished
stitching, I took my time
cutting away the excess
stabilizer. I didn't
want to accidentally cut the
pocket. After all, I only
have four more of these
shirts left in my closet! |
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Carefully
trim excess stabilizer and loose
threads from the back of the pocket. |
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Then I pinned the pocket
back in place, and re-sewed
it onto the shirt using
simple straight stitches and
matching thread. |
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Pin the
pocket back in place and stitch
back onto the shirt. |
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Re-sew the
pocket onto the shirt with simple
straight stitches, matching the thread
color. |
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Next I experimented with a
pair of jeans.
Working from the
inside of the jeans, I removed
the pocket's stitches. This
took a little longer than it
did with the denim shirt, as the
jeans pocket was
double-stitched. |
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Work from
the wrong side of a garment when
removing pockets to keep the right
side looking spiffy. |
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I hooped the jeans pocket so
that the rest of the jeans
were to the side of the
hoop, instead of in the
back. This helped me to get
as much of the pocket as
possible onto the
stabilizer.
I'm using a cutaway
stabilizer with denim (you
can read the Fabrics 101
article here). |
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Include as
much of the jeans pocket
as possible
inside the hoop. |
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I also rolled
the jeans up carefully to
the side of the hoop, so
they didn't get in the way
while the design was
stitching out. |
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Roll the
jeans up to the side of the hoop
allowing the embroidery hoop to move
freely. |
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You'll see
that I switched the colors of the
Flaming Basketball around a little; you can
choose the look you like with simple
changes like this! |
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There may be times when it's
easier to just remove a
pocket entirely before
embroidering it. This is
what I did with the
small pocket of a child's cotton shirt,
because the pocket is so
small. |
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A child's shirt pocket is a great spot
for embroidery. |
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To make sure I could put the
pocket right back where it
was when I re-sewed it to
the shirt, I outlined it with an air-erase
pen before removing it. |
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Trace the
outline of the pocket
before
removing for easy alignment later. |
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Since I didn't have the rest
of the garment to add weight
and stability to the hooped
pocket like I did with the
denim shirt and with the
jeans, I made sure to
use plenty of temporary
spray adhesive and to really
stick that pocket onto the
stabilizer.
You could also use a smaller
hoop and hoop the fabric
entirely.
Then, after embroidering,
stitch the pocket back on to
the shirt. |
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Make sure
the pocket is affixed
securely to
the stabilizer. |
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The
Flaming Basketball
stands out beautifully
against the gingham!
I found that the filled
design was a bit heavy for
the soft cotton in
children's clothing. Because
the entire pocket wasn't
hooped, a close-up view
would show you a small
amount of gapping between
the border and the
basketball.
Sometimes even the most
seasoned professionals get
less-than-perfect results.
But the results are
acceptable: The gapping is
not visible, and a
three-year-old boy won't be
standing still long enough
for a close examination! |
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This shirt
can be paired with the jeans
above for a
cute coordinated outfit. |
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I found an apron that had a
pocket on it, and I used the
same technique as stitching
on the pocket of the adult
shirt. I removed the
stitches from the bottom and
sides but left the top right
and left stitches intact.
Then I added the
Banana Bunch onto the
pocket to give a tasty and
flavorful look. |
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Apron
pockets are a wonderful blank
canvas
for embroidery! |
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Stitching on pockets became
like potato chips...I
couldn't stop after one, or
even four! I grabbed another
shirt from my closet and
added the
Circling Dragon (Bluework)
design to the pocket.
The fabric of the shirt is
thin, so I specifically
chose a simple and light
design. It turned out great! |
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Dress up
dress shirts with classic designs. |
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Embroidering on pockets takes a little plotting and
scheming, as you can see. But in many cases, a pocket is
the perfect place to showcase a design. It's well worth
the extra effort to remove part or all of the pocket.
Some embroiderers will stitch through a pocket rather
than remove it. I don't find that quite as satisfying as
the above methods, for two reasons: First, stitching
through a pocket makes it unusable; and second, when
stitching through two layers of a cotton or linen fabric
(like used in the above shirts), I always see the fabric
pucker. As always, use the technique or process that
works for you - but I get the best and most
professional-looking results when I take the extra time
to remove the pocket.
Ready? Grab your garment with a pocket. Set? Get a seam
ripper. Go! Start ripping, start stitching, and show me
your results. Send
photos to
stitch@emblibrary.com -- I'd love to
see your pocket pizzazz!
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Kenny is a
master digitizer and Vice President of
Production at Embroidery Library, Inc.
Ask Kenny! Send email to
stitch@emblibrary.com. |
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