You are! Sure to be a hit with all baseball fans, here’s a little baseball stitching to get you into the mood for the season. Celebrate Opening Day 2019, whether you’re a major league baseball fan or tee-ball devotee, by wearing this design. It doesn’t have to be on the back pocket of a pair of white jeans, it could adorn any pocket on a tote bag or polo shirt. Whatever your preference, show your baseball pride! Here’s how to do it on a pair of jeans. You’ll find the free downloadable baseball stitching design at the end of the article.
Open the design in software and print two templates – one as is and one in mirror image. Set them aside.
Decide if you can lose the use of the pocket – talk yourself into it because it makes adding the embroidery a whole lot easier. If you agree, separate a scrap of fusible web from its paper backing and insert it into the pocket.
Press the pocket to fuse it shut. This will transform the jeans into one layer instead of a shifting layer (the pocket) on top of a base fabric (the jeans).
If you really want to use the pocket, then separate the pocket from the jeans. Leave the bartack stitches in place (at the pocket’s top corners) and pin the pocket to hooped cut-away stabilizer.
Place the templates on the pocket. I opted to place and hoop each of the designs separately. When merged to fit on my pocket, the designs measured 120mm x 124mm. Since I wanted to use a 130mm x 180mm hoop on a multi-needle machine, the merged design left little ‘wiggle room’ for placement. And since this design was landing well, you know where – I wanted make sure each segment of it was placed properly.
Slide a target sticker under each template, aligning the crosshairs.
On the mutli-needle machine, slide the pants over the metal frame of Quick Snap and place the magnetic frame on top.
If you have it, use the machine’s camera to align the needle with the target sticker. Wow – I love that camera.
But don’t fear, you don’t have to have a fancy machine to stitch this project because I stitched the second pocket on a single needle machine with a slightly different method. For a single needle machine, hoop polymesh stabilizer in a 130mm x 180mm hoop. After turning the pants inside out, place the pocket on the hoop, with the legs extending over the attachment (away from the head of the machine). Place the templates back on the target stickers so you can see the design.
Then, pin the pants onto the stabilizer, keeping the pins out of the design area. Use binder clips to hold the bulk of the pants out of the hoop.
Attach the hoop to the machine and stitch the first design. Move the needle to the center of the second target sticker, mirror image the design and stitch. Repeat for both pockets.
Wear with pride and I’ll look for you at the ballpark!
Download your design here, you’ll find two sizes: 4” x 4” and 5” x 7”. I used the 5” x 7” designs on my jeans.
Serious machine embroiderers never let hoop size hold them back. When they think big, they stitch big. But that doesn’t mean they have to have a big hoop. No, they just need the right software and some handy notions (okay, the notions are optional but really helpful!) to get the job done. Here’s how to do it.
Wasn’t that easy? I often approach splitting designs with a bit of intimidation but I’ve learned if I take my time and pay attention to the details (like aligning the fabric with the laser crosshair), the results come out as planned.Splitting designs is very rewarding – people will think you’re an embroidery rock star!
