We asked Laura Pifer, Brother Sews Ambassador, how to make a personalised bridal jacket – her DIY guide will help crafty types to customise their own cool wedding jacket at home.
“One of my favorite things about machine embroidery is the ability to customize gifts and projects. It’s a fun way to add colour and personal design to garments like a denim jacket. Denim is an ideal fabric to embroider on, because the medium to heavy weight woven material does well with dense designs,” explains Laura.
“With embroidered denim on trend, I wanted to share a tutorial on how to machine embroider on a jacket. Make these embroidered denim jacketsas an upcoming wedding present for the bride (great for wedding photos), or gifts for the bridal party.
“Personalised bridal jackets add a unique flare to any type of wedding, even destination weddings. A chill in the air at night? This will be the perfect accessory that you can continue enjoying long beyond the reception. There are so many ideas and ways to customise these DIY embroidered denim jackets.”
How to Customise Your Bridal Jacket
You will need:
- –Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine (also available on Amazon)
- -5” x 7” hoop
- –Pacesetter Heavy Wt. Cut-Away Stabilizer
- –Pacesetter Adhesive Tear-Away Stabilizer
- -Denim Jacket: (avoid stretchy denim)
- -Embroidery Font Design
- -Embroidery designs for border (rose corner, etc).
Embroidery tip: Use bold and dense embroidery designs and fonts so you get dramatic results on the denim jacket. If you have a smaller hoop area, you can do the letter or words individually like I did.
I like to begin by making a sample of the lettering and design I want using similar fabric and stabiliser. It’s important to see how it will look stitched out especially if you’re doing this on a garment.
You can use software to create your design and lettering or just piece it together on the Brother Touch Screen. I have the PE800 which makes it easy to add and edit designs right on the screen.
Step One
Lay the jacket out flat and press. I am embroidering the back panel. Measure out the center and mark from top to bottom. This is how you will keep the design centered.
Step Two
Mark a horizontal line for the location where you want the first word. I mark where I want the bottom of the lettering to be as well. This is where a sample or printed design comes in handy.
Step Three
I’m using a Heavy Cut-Away Stabiliser. You want to cut enough so that you can cover the whole surface area you plan to embroider, plus an additional 1-2” extra. This is ideal if you’re planning to embroider all over like I am. I have a 5” x 7” hoop area, so I will be moving the hoop around for each design. Spray the stabilizer with a temporary spray adhesive and place on the back of the jacket.
Step Four
Hoop so the centre marks align with your centre markings and the embroidery design will fit in the embroidery area. Place hoop and jacket in embroidery unit, making sure sleeves and other parts of the jacket are out of the way of the hoop area.
Step Five
Centre the design to your marked location and press embroider!
Step Six
Once the first design is complete, let’s repeat for the bottom lettering. I will have to re-hoop, but I don’t have to cut/add more stabilizer because I have enough on the back.
For this one I mark a horizontal line where the top (of the largest letter) of the lettering should hit. I like to space them about 1” apart. You can do less or more – it’s up to you. Because I’m doing an inch, I have to hoop part of the “Mrs” lettering. You will have to adjust your hoop for this.
Step Seven
Repeat the hooping steps above and embroider.
Step Eight
If you want to, add some additional border designs. You can hoop wherever you’d like and add the design.
Step Nine
I also like to “float” the jacket and embroidery along edges and collars. Floating is achieved by using some sort of adhesive stabilizer or spray adhesive. I like to use Pacesetters Adhesive Tear-Away Stabilizer.
Hoop just the stabilizer and then expose the sticky surface by tearing away the top layer. Place the garment where you want to embroider, directly on top of the hoop. This is ideal for locations that are hard to hoop (collars, hemlines, buttons, large seams, etc). I did this for the bottom rose corner and the date on the back of the collar.
Step 10
Here is how I did the collar to add the date. You will want to stay by the machine when doing this style of embroidery so it doesn’t move.
And now it’s complete!
More about Laura Pifer:
Laura is a Brother Sewing Ambassador, blogger, and designer of DIY fashion blog Trash to Couture.
Trash to Couture was created in 2010 to inspire a less wasteful approach to the mass-produced fashion mainstream through DIY tutorials and repurposed fashions. Laura is also a sewing educator and specializes in designing content for several craft brands and publications, such as Altered Couture and It’s Sew Easy TV.
If you’re looking for more ways to be less wasteful, make sure you read our guide to picking the perfect sustainable wedding dress.
