How To: Machine Embroider a Denim Jacket: Wedding Day

 

One of my favorite things about machine embroidery is being able to customize gifts and projects. It's a fun way to add color and personal design to garments like a jean jacket. Denim is an ideal fabric to embroider on because of the medium to heavy weight woven material which does well with dense designs. With embroidered denim on trend, I wanted to share a tutorial on how to machine embroider on a jacket. Make these for an upcoming wedding for the bride (great for wedding photos) or gifts for the bridal party. So many ideas and ways to customize these. Get the details below to make your own. 

 

Supplies:

-Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine

-5” x 7” hoop

-Pacesetter Heavy Wt. Cut-Away Stabilizer

-Pacesetter Adhesive Tear-Away Stabilizer

-Denim Jacket: (avoid stretchy denim ones)

-Embroidery Font Design 

-Embroidery designs for border (rose corner, etc)

Embroidery: Use bold and dense embroidery designs and fonts so you have dramatic results on the denim jacket. If you have a smaller hoop area you can do the letter or words individually like I did. 

Lay the jacket out flat and press. I am embroidering the back panel. Measure out the center and mark from top to bottom. This is how you will keep the design centered.  

Mark a horizontal line for the location you want the first word. I mark where I want the bottom of the lettering to be. This is where a sample or printed design comes in handy. 

Hooping

I’m using a Heavy Cut-Away Stabilizer. You want to cut enough that will cover the whole surface area you plan to embroidery plus 1-2” extra. This is ideal if you’re planning to embroidery all over like me. I have a 5”  x 7” hoop area so I will be moving the hoop around for each design. Spray the stabilizer with a temporary spray adhesive and place on the back of the jacket. 

Hoop so the center marks align with your center markings and the embroidery design will fit in the embroidery area. Place hoop and jacket in embroidery unit making sure sleeves and parts of the jacket are out of the hoop areas way

Center the design to your marked location and press embroider!

Once the first design is complete let’s repeat for the bottom lettering. I will have to re-hoop but I don’t have to cut/add more stabilizer because I have enough on the back. For this one I mark a horizontal line where the top (of the largest letter) of the lettering should hit. I like to space them about  1” apart. You can do less or more it’s up to you. Because I’m doing an inch, I have to hoop part of the “Mrs”. lettering. You will have to adjust your hoop for this. 

Repeat the hooping steps above and embroider.

If you want to add some additional border designs. You can hoop wherever you’d like and add the design.

I also like to “float” the jacket and embroidery along edges and collars. Floating is achieved by using some sort of adhesive stabilizer or spray adhesive. I like to use Pacesetters Adhesive Tear-Away Stabilizer.

 

Hoop just the stabilizer and then expose the sticky surface by tearing away the top layer.  Place the garment where you want to embroider, directly on top of the hoop. This is ideal for locations that are hard to hoop (collars, hemlines, buttons, large seams, etc). I did this for the bottom rose corner and the date on the back of the collar. 

 

Here is how I did the collar to add the date. You will want to stay by the machine when doing this style of embroidery so it doesn’t move.

 

For your next embroidery project give this one a try.