Adventures with sharp objects (SEWING WOO!).

[thedreya]

I've been needing a 'professional'ish wardrobe, in the event that at some point someone decides to employ me. Thanks to the Salvation Army, I've been able to acquire quite a few lovely articles of clothing at a low, low price. The super-duper awesome part of this is that all of the things I picked are 100% natural fibers: cotton, wool, or silk. I

Comments

[margaretc]

I've done a bit with trying to embroider my modern clothes, in the past. I am quite accomplished at embroidery in general, but making it work on modern clothes is a bit beyond me.

Having said that, you have a much more artistic bent than I do, so think of it this way: your thread is the paint, and your needle is the brush. Although getting to the point where you can actually employ them as such is a bit tricky and takes a good deal of practice. Do lots of samples before you go poking holes in your new clothes.

[margaretc]

oh, and embroidery on knits is much harder than on woven fabric.

[thedreya]

I am generally not a big fan of pretty flowery things, so I am a little nervous about embroidering in a modern sense, too. I have a feeling it'll be fairly minimal stuff, just a little bit to make it personal. Who knows, though?
The great thing about getting clothes from the Thrift Shop is that they only cost like $2, so if I do make a hash of it, it's not the end of the world. It's just annoying :) And what's really awesome is that the high-quality natural-fiber stuff is usually in great shape, and nobody else wants it because it's hard to care for and out of vogue. Win!
Embroidery on knits is harder? Gaaaahhhh I am not surprised. Fortunately, the cashmere and merino sweaters look nice enough on their own w/o embroidery. It's mostly the neutral-toned silks that need work, and they look to be mostly woven, with a few knit bits like collars and cuffs.

[thedreya]

Whups, I was wrong. Half the silks are all knit. Blergh.