Hello Menders!
A lot of the time, we need to use some embroidery to make a repair look good. But, what if you aren’t already skilled at embroidery? The only way to get good at anything is to practice, but people feel awkward about wearing projects they’ve practiced on out into the world when they still need to improve.
One way around this is to practice on things people won’t see, like washcloths. If you have a washcloth with worn out spots you can use that, but if not, you can add decorative embroidery to a washcloth without it waiting for it to need repair.
Once you have some skills at embroidery, a decorated washcloth can be a good gift for occasions like going to summer camp, dorm move-in day, and housewarming parties.
I’m going to demonstrate a leaf, because it’s a simple shape that can make sense at a variety of sizes, and works as a decorative element for any gender’s clothes.
First, find something green in your scrap bin, and place it on the washcloth. (There are no sewing police coming around to stop you from using a different color; fall colors in particular could also make sense, but you could also use anything for your own creative reasons.)
You can also find this project, with links to help you find tools and supplies, at MakerPlace.
Use chalk, a pencil, or a washable marker to draw two curves that come together to make a simple leaf shape. You can use anything circular as a template, or a drawing compass, or freehand it.
Advanced version of this step: browse PhyloPic for leaves of specific species to copy, by hand or using tracing paper or backlighting.
Baste about half a fingerwidth inside the outline. (We aren’t talking about keeping a turkey from drying out! In the sewing context, basting is sewing some stitches that you plan to take out later, to hold pieces in place while you’re putting them together properly. Basting thread should be a contrast color to make it easy to pick out. Also, since you’ll pick it out and trash it, basting is a good way to use up crummy cheap thread that comes in some kits and value packs.) Theoretically, you could be more precise, and space the basting line from the drawn line by half a centimeter or a quarter inch; if being precise makes you happy, go for it, but if not, it’s OK to embrace the fact that nature makes leaves all kinds of different ways.
Clip off the excess fabric. Depending on how much there is and what you might have a use for, you can toss the excess or put it back in your scrap bin. (The pieces I trimmed off are very small, but I sometimes use scraps for stuffing so I’m keeping even them.)
Fold under a clipped edge at the side, and start satin stitching over the edge. (Satin stitch is straight stitches, so close together that they touch. The exact distance depends on how thick your thread is, so I used three strands of embroidery floss from my stash instead of two.) Tuck the end of the embroidery cross into the fold so the stitches will hold it in place and it will be snag-proof.
If you have a sewing machine, you can also use a wide and extremely short machine zigzag stitch as a satin stitch outline. Go very slowly, and use a tool like a toothpick or crochet hook to guide the folding-under instead of getting your fingers close to the needle while the machine is running.
Work your way around toward the point, folding and satin stitching as you go.
When you get close to the point, fold from both sides and pinch hard to crease the point. Clip across a bit past the point so it won’t be so bulky, then fold again, and satin stitch to the end. Shorten your stitches when you get very near the point to leave room for the other side on the way back.
Turn the leaf around, and start stitching back, first with short stitches to match up and make a corner with the previous short stitches, then regular length stitches to continue.
Keep going around the edge the same way.
When you get to the other point, do the same things you did for the first point.
Then, keep going around the part of the first edge that was behind the first stitches you put in.
When you get close to back to the beginning, the fabric being folded under might look a bit popped out or puffy. Keep pressing it into place and stitching it down.
You can pick out the basting stitches now, and if you want or need to stop that’s fine — you’ve got a leaf!
However, if you want to keep going, you can use stem stitch to represent the leaf’s veins. Stem stitch is like satin stitch in that each stitch touches the thread of the previous stitch. However, instead of going through the fabric through holes that are side by side and advancing sideways, stem stitches work their way forward lengthwise.
Stitching through the patch and the main fabric in the interior also makes the repaired item stronger.
Thread up your needle again if you ran out of your previous length of thread on the satin stitches or want to change anything about what you’re using. (Both are true for me: my thread was short enough that I had to re-thread for each of the last few stitches, and I’m using two strands instead of three for the center vein.)
Start at a corner and stitch forward into the leaf’s interior. On the back of the fabric, go backward but not all the way, then take another stitch forward. (You can catch the thread tail on the back as you go, or deal with it later.)
Continue down the middle of the leaf until you’re most of the way to the end. I paused partway to split the thread down to one strand, to make the line of stem stitches thinner; you can do that or not, either way.
You can also use stem stitch to represent side veins coming off of the main veins. I used one strand of floss for this, to make the side veins thinner than most of the main vein.
There are many different leaf vein patterns, so if you’d like to make something that looks different, feel free to research and experiment.
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