Steampunk'd Jacket

Do you have an extra jacket lying around that you want to spice up? I have the perfect solution for you! This week we're going to take a denim jacket and embroider this gorgeous vintage-inspired Steampunk'd design from Hope Yoder's Steampunk'd XL CD. I love this design because it's large and in charge - perfect for adding to the back of a denim jacket!

Make sure you wash and dry your jacket and don't use fabric softener or a dryer sheet. Washing the jacket will remove any formaldehyde that's in new clothing. This will also help the Fusible bond to the jacket better.

Use the T Shirt Heat Transfer Vinyl Centering Ruler to find the horizontal and vertical center of the back of the jacket. I love using this ruler because you can use it for machine embroidery, too! Use a water-soluble marker to mark the center of the jacket.

Hoop Embellish® Sticky Tearaway shiny side up and score the release paper with the Embellish® Vinyl Weeding Tool. Sticky tearaway helps baste the jacket to the stabilizer since the jacket is too big to hoop. Sticky Tearaway is the perfect solution to use when an item is either too small or too bulky to hoop. Next, fuse Embellish® Fusible Bold Underlay to the back of the jacket with medium heat from an iron. Make sure the underlay is completely fused to the jacket.

Let's talk about topper! You should use a topper on everything you embroider because it adds space between the fabric and thread. This means that you never have to iron your jacket upside down on a towel to make the thread look prettier. Using a topper prevents the beautiful Matte Thread from sinking into the denim fabric. I am choosing to use Rinse Away Clear Topper here so there won't be any topper left when I wash the jacket after it's all finished.

After the embroidery is finished on the jacket, clip the machine basting threads and remove the fusible bold tearaway by lifting a corner up and tearing the rest away. If the Bold Tearaway was fused  with too high of a temperature and won't come off, simply reheat it with a medium temperature iron and immediately pull the stabilizer away. Pull on the topper to remove and use the Vinyl Weeding Tool to help remove the topper from those tiny spaces. 

This embroidered jacket looks great on its own - but I didn't stop there! I added some Swarovski Crystals  with RNK's Battery Powered Rhinestone Setter. I love using these crystals to add final touches on embroidery and other projects. The Crystals have a permanent glue on the back and they wash and wear perfectly. Using the battery operated rhinestone setter gives me the freedom to move and not worry about a pesky cord.