Process

I always like to see other folks' process on a project so I thought I would share mine here.


My friend and neighbor Will (of WillTeez) asked me a few weeks ago if I could do some top-stitching on some letters for his new Inhood sweatshirt series.  I understood the idea of what he wanted (a basic zigzag topstitch) but having never done it before, I asked for something to try it out on first.  Will gave me one of his personal shirts and I quickly found that the topstitching was as easy as I thought it would be.

Last week Will dropped off the first 3 sweatshirts to me.  Here is what I did:

#81:
The first shirt I worked on was #81.  (The shirts are limited edition and each number is only used once.)  This is a navy shirt with white numbers.  (All the shirts have "Inhood" in white letters on the back.)  Will does the hard work of positioning and affixing the letters and numbers so the shirts come to me with that already done.  I pinned cut-away stabilizer to the back of each applique.  I set my ancient Singer up for a zigzag stitch with a bight of 2 and a stitch width of 3.  I used white top and bobbin thread.  I'm pleased with the stitching but I'm not crazy about the stabilizer being left in place.



#13:
The second shirt was #13.  This shirt has black numbers on a black shirt.  I was afraid it would be hard ot see the edge of the applique piece but the contrast in texture made it easier than I expected.  I used the same machine settings and matched the thread for both the top and bottom (black on the numbers, white on the letters).  I used cut-away stabilizer for the numbers again but switched to tear-away stabilizer for the letters.  I liked the look of the tearaway much better but it was a bitch to remove it from the zigzag stitches.  I also did not like seeing the outline of the applique piece on the inside of the shirt. 


#66:
The third shirt in my learning curve was #66.  Red letters on a black shirt.  I received a package of lighter-weight tearaway stabilizer from my sister that afternoon so I used that on this shirt.  I also switched up my thread:  I used a top thread to match the applique and the bobbin thread was black (to match the shirt).  The lighter-weight stabilizer was much easier to remove and I like the look of these much better.