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Step 5Sewn pieces: "embroidery" with cording trims
Character designers sometimes love drawing random lines on top of garments without any indication what they're supposed to be. It's easy to add lines to a drawing, but not quite so straightforward in real life. Actual embroidery is slow and isn't always well suited to thick lines (especially if you're not experienced).
You can do these steps with a sewing machine using a zig-zag stitch, but I prefer the control of doing it by hand. This technique is very effective with rattail cording, which is easy to get, or any other kind of cord-like trim. (You can use braid or soutache also, of course; the look is different.)
I had bad experiences with "vanishing" fabric marking pens and the like, so for the jacket designs, I drew my design in pencil on a piece of tear-away stabilizer. I pinned it to the fabric and sewed through it, and gently tore it away when I was done. Because I was using a metallic cording and couldn't find thread to match, I used invisible thread, which is pretty effective at making the design appear to float on the fabric. The key with hand sewing with invisible thread is to use shorter pieces because it becomes kinked and knots easily otherwise.To keep the ends from raveling, they were bartacked by hand with the closest matching thread I could find.
For the more elaborate design on the tunic, I tried using an adhesive-backed stabilizer. This *isn't* what the stuff is designed for and I did have trouble getting it off the fabric. If you want to use an adhesive stabilizer because you're working on a thin or otherwise difficult material that you can't stabilize on the reverse side like I was, make sure that you test it on a scrap fabric (comes off some things easier than others) and don't leave it on for longer than a few hours. As the piece is handled, the adhesive gets more reluctant to come off.
You can do these steps with a sewing machine using a zig-zag stitch, but I prefer the control of doing it by hand. This technique is very effective with rattail cording, which is easy to get, or any other kind of cord-like trim. (You can use braid or soutache also, of course; the look is different.)
I had bad experiences with "vanishing" fabric marking pens and the like, so for the jacket designs, I drew my design in pencil on a piece of tear-away stabilizer. I pinned it to the fabric and sewed through it, and gently tore it away when I was done. Because I was using a metallic cording and couldn't find thread to match, I used invisible thread, which is pretty effective at making the design appear to float on the fabric. The key with hand sewing with invisible thread is to use shorter pieces because it becomes kinked and knots easily otherwise.To keep the ends from raveling, they were bartacked by hand with the closest matching thread I could find.
For the more elaborate design on the tunic, I tried using an adhesive-backed stabilizer. This *isn't* what the stuff is designed for and I did have trouble getting it off the fabric. If you want to use an adhesive stabilizer because you're working on a thin or otherwise difficult material that you can't stabilize on the reverse side like I was, make sure that you test it on a scrap fabric (comes off some things easier than others) and don't leave it on for longer than a few hours. As the piece is handled, the adhesive gets more reluctant to come off.
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