i purchased a new {bright hot pink} sweatshirt this weekend. i was actually looking for something more interesting… but then i thought i would just embellish it with fabric. but i changed… my mind! and i love how it turned out. i began my design process with a screen print, using a favorite designer and friend, terri stegmiller’s “flower with text” thermofax screen. available in terri’s etsy shop: {isn’t that a cool design!} ~ but wait! {there’s more!}
why stop at one…
when you can add two more? {just like potato chips, right?!} these two beauties came from another … favorite designer!! margaret applin’s etsy shop.
and i stabilized the sweatshirt, just under the flower motif only. i used a stabilizer product, under the big white flower, only. it is called “by annie’s – soft and stable.”
i then cut it away. i also decided not to add more stabilizer as i did with the flower shape, as i felt it would have added waaayy too much bulk to the front of the sweatshirt.
i added free motion stitching on the front using a spool of rainbow thread and black king tut {both from superior thread company} for the handwriting-stitching word: “grace” {with my signature heart}
i would have liked to added more scratchy stitching, but knits are a bit tricky, so i decided to quit while i was ahead, when everything was looking pretty good!
i thought i was done as i began taking pictures. but then after looking at the pics, i just thought it needed more! {big surprise} also, fyi… in the beginning, one of the things i tried first on the flower stencil, was screening it with a white acrylic silks paint. but it was too transparent for this type of process. {heavy bodied paint works wonderful} so i added titanium white heavy-bodied paint as an accent with a paint brush. i like it even better than if it had been totally solid to begin with as there is a tad bit of shading to it now. love it when things turn out that way. i also added a little crystal to the center. a button would be way cute, too! {probably cuter, actually!}
luminarte silks acrylic paint colors i used:
it still needs… a little somethin’~somethin’ dont’cha think?
so let me explain part of my process and what happened. one of the things i love best about this particular screen design of terri’s is the wording… but it didn’t show or print out the way i wanted as i began with the wrong paint, and because it was too liquid, it filled in the words… so i got out my word stamp and staz-on {permanent} ink pad… and carefully… stamped away.
i love how it turned out. and i think it would be really cool on any color, but i’m interested in playing with a black sweathshirt, using white inks and threads, too! i can think how cute some of those thermofax screens of terri and margaret’s would be on baby jackets… hmmm? yup~i think they would be darling!
and i’m offering this one in my own etsy shop {at least for now ~ i may have to wear it when i go the lake… soon!}
soli deo gloria!
xo
leslie
Comments 11
Oh my gosh!!! I love it!!!!!
Awesome!! That looks soooo gorgeous! I think I'm going to browse through my wardrobe to see if anything could get a facelift. Thank you for sharing this with us!!
It turned out great! I love that flower screen print from Terri, I have it too but haven't done anything quite so wonderful with it as you have. You have inspired me!
So cute, oh my. Love working with both these ladies stencils and my StencilGirl team……now that's how to dress up a sweatshirt. xox
Beautiful – like the idea of using the Soft and Stable under the motif. You can use headliner fabric from JoAnn's too as it is almost the same as Soft and Stable.
It's awesome!
Seriously wonderful. and how creative! very clever and creative. 😉 Do you think it's a Gift? ;);)
Awesome!!! The addition of the yellow paint in the flower petals was great but then when you added the black text…perfection!
I love all the little extras you added.
Is that cool, or what?? Great job!
Wow – Leslie! What you can do with a little paint and thread simply amazes me every time!!! What an artist you are my friend :*)