a custom sweatshirt ~ tutorial

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