I want to embroider some leaves and vines on the next linen top I make, and it turns out that Inkscape’s “pattern along path” feature is very clever! I’m not sure I love this placement though (suggestions are welcome).
The front of my linen top is cut, placketed, and prepared for embroidery. Thanks again to @peatbogfaery for helping me finalise the placement :)
For those interested, the process so far has been:
· Cut the piece
· Use basting thread to mark all the notches (because I dislike snipping them, and the chalk I use instead will rub off while I’m embroidering) and the dart points
· Use narrow strips of soluble stabiliser (left over from previous embroidery project printing) along the curved and shoulder edges to stop them stretching
· Overcast the abovementioned edges by hand to stop them fraying
· Make the placket (there are lots of online tutorials for this — I use a variation of the kurta placket at https://sewguide.com/stitch-plackets/ )
· Print the embroidery guidelines on soluble stabiliser, then cut and stick it to the piece
· Use soluble basting thread to sew down the edges of the stabiliser (it sticks pretty well on its own, but it stays on even better if you stop it from trying to peel away at the edges)
The photo here was taken in bad light; there’s a more colour-true photo of a sample elsewhere in this thread.
Embroidery on one side of my vines-and-leaves linen tunic front is complete. I haven’t washed off the soluble stabiliser yet, because it would be hard to do that without also washing off the thin bits of stabiliser I put along the curved edges, and I want to keep those there as long as possible to avoid stretching.
Next up is the other side of the front, which will just be a mirror-image of this. And then I get to decide whether I’m enjoying it enough to carry on doing some on the sleeves as well, and maybe also on the back neckline.
