You just never know what I’m going to get into next! A few days before we were to leave on vacation last month, I decided I needed a project to keep me occupied in the van during the 10-11 hour drive to Oak Island. I had a hankering to do some hand sewing and came up with the *brilliant* idea to embroider a denim jacket.
I haven’t done any embroidery for years, but I really enjoy having something to keep my hands busy during waiting times, and since I had an extra denim jacket hanging in the closet, I thought I’d try to work up an embroidery design and transfer it to the jacket before we left on the trip.
I came across a post about a great new product for transferring embroidery designs to fabric. It’s made by Sulky, and the product is called “Sticky Fabri-Solvy”. It’s a self-adhesive, fabric-like, water-soluble stabilizer.
With the Fabri-Solvy you simply do a line drawing of your pattern, scan it, then print the pattern at your desired size onto the paper-backed self-adhesive stabilizer.
To shortcut the design process, I bought a downloadable pattern on Etsy. With a few modifications, it worked perfectly for the floral center of my mandala design.
I framed the floral center with circles which would later be filled with stitching. The outside border is made up of motifs commonly found in mandala designs. At this point, I had an idea of what stitches I would use to embroider the various sections, but nothing was set in stone. I figured I’d finalize color selections and stitch patterns as the project progressed.
The Fabri-Solvy material feels like fusible interfacing that has a paper backing. I was skeptical about printing on it with my inkjet printer, but it worked perfectly!
After the Fabri-Solvy went through the printer, I trimmed off the excess material, peeled off the paper backing, centered it carefully on the denim jacket and pressed it in place. The sticky adhesive adhered to the fabric well, but only time would tell whether it would stay in place as I worked on it. (Note: Because my pattern was 10 1/2″ wide, I had to print the pattern twice and overlap the separate pieces on the jacket, matching the pattern.)
I ended up basting the stabilizer to the jacket with thread, too, because I wasn’t sure I could trust the adhesive to keep the pattern in place when it was being handled, but I don’t think it was really necessary. The sticky backing held up through at least 25 or 30 hours of stitching, with the jacket stretched in an embroidery hoop as I worked. And it never gummed up the needle or caused any drag on the embroidery floss.
The true test came when I had finished all the embroidery and it was time to dissolve the water-soluble pattern material. I couldn’t wait to see what the embroidered design looked like on the denim. I ran a sink full of water and held my breath as I immersed the jacket. What if it didn’t dissolve, after all my hard work????
I could hardly believe my eyes! The stabilizer just melted away leaving only my beautiful embroidery on the denim background. I’m giving Sulky Fabri-Solvy an A+++!
This was a great project to work on in the van while Fred chauffeured me to the beach and back, but I also stashed it in my tote bag and worked on it at the beach when I needed a change of pace from reading or going for walks. It was so nice to sit in the shade under the umbrella, happily stitching away and glancing up between stitches to watch the waves roll in.
The next time we have a long drive ahead of us, I’m planning to add some coordinating embroidery to the collar and cuffs, but meanwhile I’m enjoying wearing this cute decorated jacket that has morphed from a spur-of-the-moment idea into an ongoing project.
36 Comments
What a cute jacket! Thank you for sharing about this project, it turned out beautifully, and it’s good to know about this product.
It really worked well. I wish I had had this years ago.
This is really cute and you did a wonderful job with it — especially after not doing embroidery for a long while!
It’s like riding a bike! You just don’t forget. I’ve been embroidering since I was ten, so I guess it’s an ingrained skill. And it’s so relaxing and meditative.
Next time you come to Oak Island, we’d love to have you over to watch the sunset on our deck. We moved here to an oceanfront cottage about 2 years ago and we just love it!!!
Lucky you! We love Oak Island. We’ve been vacationing there for 25 years. The beaches up north just can’t compare. We already booked a house for next August, so I’ll try to remember to get in touch before we go. Thanks for the invitation!
WOW, amazing.
Thanks, Angela, it was a fun project.
Beautiful!
Thanks, Chris – I really enjoyed it. It’s been fun wearing it this fall. Someone always stops me and comments on it.
That is just gorgeous!
Thanks, Arlene, it was a nice change from sketching, and a lot easier to do in the van!
Very nice! Loved the choice of colors!
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to your next project.
I thought these colors would go with just about everything I wear. I had so much fun working on the jacket, now I’m trying to think of more embroidery projects to do. After all, I still have 7 yards of the Fabri-Solvy to use up. If you’d like to try it, just let me know – I have plenty!
I love the design! I have used the Fabri-Solvy also and it works great. I even embroidered onto a pair of Van’s tennis shoes—-you could do matching shoes for your jacket! Lol. I love to embroider almost as much as painting. What a fun project.
I’d love to see what else you’ve embroidered, Sandy. I can’t believe you did a pair of tennis shoes. What a great idea! If you feel like it, send me some photos of your projects.
This turned out beautiful!
Thanks so much, Tammie!
Beautiful job Leslie. Thanks for the info on the Sulky, good to know.
It was amazing! I was skeptical at first, but it really is a wonderful product.
It’s just beautiful. Love it! You never cease to amaze me!!! ❤️❤️
Aw, shucks! Now you’re just embarrassing me… 🙂
Wow Leslie it’s fabulous! You are SO talented!
That turned out so wonderfully!!! I haven’t done embroidery in AGES…but I’d be willing to try it again with that new product!!! So helpful!!! And so pretty!! 😀
Same here – it had been so-o-o-o long since I picked up a needle. But it felt so good to get back to doing some hand sewing. I’ve missed it. Give it a try!
Oh no, now I have to start embroidering in my quest to be you! Happy fall! Stay warm in your beautiful jacket.
🙂 Thanks, Elizabeth. Hugs!
Very nice work. Can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.
My mother always jokes about all the projects I get into. She tells people, “She’ll probably be playing the violin next week!”
You are sooo talented and creative. There is nothing you can’t do. Thanks for sharing
Oh yes, I thought when I saw the perfectly finished design, this is so specially LESLIE! I love your interpretation of delicacy and refinement on a utilitarian Jean jacket! You never fail to delight and surprise with your visions! Love it and you! Thanks for sharing
Wow! That’s gorgeous. And so many different embroidery stitches- each one perfect for where it was used.
Leslie this is so inspiring! I’m hoping you can clarify how you created your pattern. Did you print out the Etsy pattern on paper, then add the surrounding circles and mandala design by hand, then scan the final drawing for printing on the Sulky fabric?
Your embroidery is exquisite!
That’s pretty close to how I did it, Amy, and you could definitely draw it all by hand, but I had a little help….
I scanned the Etsy pattern first, then drew a single segment of the outside border (the arabesque-style design) and scanned it, too.
To draw the larger design, I opened a new file in Microsoft Publisher and imported my images.
In the program, it was easy to place the floral design in the center and draw the concentric circles around it. I was able to simply duplicate the outside border motif that I had drawn and paste multiple images of it onto the circle to complete the design. And I made sure to size everything so it would all fit on the back of my jacket.
During the design phase, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for the border that’s closest to the floral center, so I just divided it into segments that I could later fill with a motif. In the end, I used a continuous line of embroidery instead of doing something more intricate – I thought it was better to draw attention to the center, rather than competing with it.
After the entire design was done in Publisher, I printed it onto the Fabri-Solvy and attached the material to the jacket.
So, using Publisher might have saved me some time during the design phase, but you could just as easily draw the final design by hand, then scan and print it.
If you end up embroidering a jacket, be sure to send me a picture!
Thanks for the explanation Leslie. I will definitely send you a picture if I embroider my denim jacket. Happy Holidays!
Just lovely! You are very talented all the way around! This product is amazing also. I’m going to keep it in mind.