Stitches

How does one stabilize a large piece of hand embroidery?

I would like to hand embroider a large design on a tee shirt. The design will also have some beading and small metal pieces in it. I think the weight of the embroidery and embellishments will be too much for tee shirt material. Perhaps some kind of iron-on interfacing on the underside of the shirtwould work. Does anyone have experience with doing this kind of work?

Public Comments

1. You have the right idea to add something underneath. Make sure it fastens properly and doesn't tear your work apart. Have fun.
2. Maybe you can find something at the arts and Craft store. They do have iron ons.
3. Yes, my mom through making costumes for the theatre. She had to make a skull shape out of metal studs so it was heavy. this was her advice: Use interfacing, the iron on is best, using two layers if you think it needs it. Remember though, once it's ironed on, the part with the interfacing WON'T stretch. Take into consideration how often the piece will have to be cleaned as some dry-cleaning solutions wreck the solvent glue in the interfacing
4. http://www.sulky.com/stabilizers/index_stabilizers.php these are excellent quality stabilizers used for embroidery.. Although I have never used them on hand embroidery just on machine embroidery...but investing time on a project is worth a good stablizer to keep it from being ruined in one wash... have fun and enjoy!