DIY Tutorial: How to Upcycle a Thrifted Knit Shirt with Hand Embroidery
- Melissa Galbraith
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
One of my goals this year has been to buy mostly thrifted, upcycled, or vintage items whenever possible. Thanks to my obsession with the resale app Depop, I have been able to re-find my style (90s kindergarten teacher with a touch of cottagecore grandma, in case you're interested) and fill my closet with a plethora of vintage gems.
Because almost all of these clothing pieces are as old as me, if not older, some of them need a little TLC. I'm honestly surprised at how many of them arrive in pristine condition as if they have never been worn! Thankfully there are many ways to repair those items that have a hole or stain.
In this DIY blog post I'm sharing in detail how I pick patterns and embroider over stains and holes using hand embroidery. I often get questions about this or about what colors and stitches to use for my stick and stitch patterns. In this tutorial, I'll share exactly what stitches and colors I use so you can replicate the designs and get an idea of how to pick colors and stitches.
How to upcycle knits with hand embroidery
Materials for embroidering knits
Each embroidered repair will be different, depending upon your garment. This what I used to upcycle my shirt for my embroidery project.
My Design Process
When I found this vintage wool tank top on Depop, I knew it would be the perfect canvas for hand embroidery. I rarely buy something with the intention of embroidering it, because it will languish in my to-do pile, but for some reason the $6 price tag and the vibrant yellow color had me pressing the 'buy' button.
This top had stains on both shoulders so my original intention was to embroider leaves in those areas. I thought of this for a few reasons.
The cut and design of the garment. There are seam lines along the shoulders that added structure to those areas. By adding the natural lines of leaves it would add a playful counter balance.
The pattern placement would cover the stains or be stitched in a way to distract from the stains.
I already had a Ferns stick and stitch pattern pack that I could easily pull from and play with. This pack has a variety of large and small ferns. I had planned to used large ferns facing in opposite directions towards each shoulder. Each shoulder would have a different fern. Because each hand embroidery stitch is never exactly the same, I figured I'd play into that and the asymmetry of the design.
After the garment arrived, I realized that in addition to the shoulder stains there were also a few small holes in the front right corner and the back left corners of the shirt as well. I thought of continuing the ferns all over the shirt but realized I didn't have enough wool or wool blend thread in my desired colors to make that happen. So instead I switched up the designs and used patterns from Ferns, Forest Critters, and a collaboration pack with Fog and Fleece Sheepery that I'm testing out.
I kept the asymmetrical shoulder plan, swapping one of the ferns for a branch of flowers. In the front right corner I added strawberries and coneflowers. I chose these two patterns because I wanted varying heights, multiple elements, and I needed a pattern piece large enough to cover the hole (that was the strawberries). I lined the coneflowers along the hemline to ground the design.
On the back of the garment, I added a snail and a fern. The snail was used to cover the hole and the fern was added to tie in the additional plant life. Both elements were again aligned with the hemline to ground the design elements. I also chose a fern that curved towards the snail shell to give them a sense of connection.
Next I picked out my color palette. To keep things relatively simple I restricted my entire design to eight colors. While this felt challenging at times, it ended up giving the overall shirt a cohesive look and tying all of the different patterns together nicely.
Stitching on Knits
Start by laying the garment flat. I laid out my stick and stitch patterns on top of the garment to see what would work where. When I was happy with their placement, I peeled off the backing and pressed the patterns sticky side down to the front of the fabric. You want to make sure the patterns cover the stains or hole. I held my garment up to the light and looked through the back of it to make sure I had the designs centered over the holes.
Next choose your thread colors. As I mentioned, I restricted my design to eight thread colors. Because my garment is 100% wool I chose a thread that was somewhat similar: Tilli Tomas Essentials 50/50 silk and merino blend thread. I found this thread at my local needlepoint store and have been waiting for the right project to use it on. This thread has slight shine to it and each strand is equivalent to two strands of a single ply of six strand embroidery thread. For my project I used:
Peony 524
Rosy Cheeks 547
Dragon Fly 751
June Bug 753
Wild Berry 658
Alligator 704
Applentini 717
Swamp 827
The designs are printed on water soluble stabilizer and help stabilize the fabric as you stitch. If your garment is very stretchy, your hand cramps up easily, or you pull your thread very tight I recommend placing your garment in an embroidery hoop. When placing your fabric in the hoop, be sure not to overly stretch it. You'll know it's too stretched out if the grain line is distorted. I didn't use an embroidery hoop for my project.
Pick a pattern to start stitching. I started with the strawberry and coneflowers, but you can start anywhere. When picking colors and stitches, I tried to stay close to real life in both color and texture, whenever possible. This was rather tricky when came my snail, so it turned out a little more psychedelic than the other designs. I chose stitches that would stay flush with the fabric. To start stitching, I measured an arm's length of thread and threaded my embroidery needle. For each design I used one thread, unless otherwise noted. I used a covered thread start and ended the thread by sinking it. Stitches should sit flush to the fabric. If the fabric is distorted the stitches too tight and if the thread wiggles around the stitches are too loose. When stitching I like to fill first, then outline. Stitch elements that are most flush with the surface then add the more raised stitches, and work from the center out. For example I would stitch a central branch then the leaves. For the flowers with details, I would stitch the flower petals, add the vein lines, then the pistils, then the knot centers because each layer is built upon one another.
These are the colors and stitches I used for each pattern.
Strawberries
Strawberries: long and short satin stitch- Rosy Cheeks and Peony
Strawberry tops: split back stitch- Alligator
Stems: chain stitch- Applentini
Leaves: leaf stitch- Alligator and Swamp
Coneflowers
Stems: stem stitch- Alligator
Leaves: leaf stitch- Alligator
Flower petals: Long and short satin stitch- June Bug and Dragon Fly
Flower centers: French knots- Wild Berry
Fern
Main stem: split back stitch- Alligator
Top leaves: filled lazy daisy stitch- Alligator with Applentini fill
Leaves: leaf stitch- Alligator
Bottom lighter leaves: leaf stitch- Applentini
Branch Flower
Stem: split back stitch- Applentini
Flower petals: leaf stitch- Wild Berry
Flower petal vein: split back stitch: June Bug
Flower pistils: straight stitch: Rosy Cheeks
Flower centers: French knot: Rosy Cheeks
Leaves: leaf stitch- Swamp
Snail
Snail body top: long and short satin stitch- Peony
Snail body underside: long and short satin stitch- June Bug
Shell outline: split back stitch- Wild Berry
Inside shell: long and short satin stitch- Swamp and Dragon Fly (1 strand each threaded at the same time)
Small Fern
Main stem branch: split back stitch- Applentini
Small leaves on top: straight stitch- Swamp
Larger leaves: filled lazy daisy stitch- Swamp with Applentini fill
After stitching, remove the embroidery from the hoop and rinse away the stick and stitch pattern with warm to hot water. I like to have the water running in the sink because I find the water pressure helps the pattern dissolve quicker. Some people like to soak their projects, but i find that the stabilizer can get all over the fabric when this happens, so I don't like to do that. I avoid scrunching my embroidery. Once I've rinsed away the stabilizer, I lay it flat on a towel to dry or I'll hang it up to air dry.
If you find that the back of your embroidery bothers your skin or you're worried about thread ends coming undone/ it got a little messy on the back, you can cut a piece of iron-on stabilizer such as Sulky Tender Touch to cover up the back. I don't do this, because I try to avoid using my iron as much as possible and these stabilizers don't stick to all kinds of fabrics. If you plan to use a stabilizer, here's how to do so:
Cut a piece of stabilizer slightly larger than the embroidery. Peel off the backing and align it with the embroidery. Iron it to the back of the embroidery once it is dry. Do not use steam while ironing, hold and press the iron in place for 10-15 seconds. (Each stabilizer is different, depending upon which stabilizer you buy, please read your package instructions before using.)
Looking for more helpful embroidery tips, supplies, and hands-on workshops?
Workshops
Join Melissa Galbraith of MCreativeJ for a hands-on workshop! Melissa makes hand embroidery easy with a wide variety of embroidery classes. Classes are beginner-friendly to advanced and will walk you through various stitches, techniques, and designs.
Embroidery Books
Want a great hand embroidery reference? Try one of Melissa's hand embroidery books! Each book is great for beginners and breaks down materials, stitches, techniques, and projects for you.
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