Embroidery On Flannel-Complete Tutorial with 7 Helpful Tips

Overview Of Flannel Fabric

Flannel is a soft and versatile fabric especially used for outfits during the autumn and cold season. As mentioned above, flannel is the form of wool and cotton so it is strong enough to support the embroidery over it. Due to the flannel’s soft and warm nature, it is the best choice for clothing such as embroidery on flannel shirts, jackets, cardigans, and sweaters. You can also see its application in the form of bed sheets, blankets and sleepwear and baby items. You will design flannel wear for both children and adults.

Embroidery On Flannel

As embroidery is never gonna be outdated. So a large number of people prefer embroidered attire in every season. In the winter season, you can do embroidery on the flannel as it keeps you warm and cosy. Flannel comes in a variety of weights and content. Early fall is a great time when you get flannel projects and adding embroidery to these projects is a great touch. Pre-wash the fabric before embroidery on the flannel is a useful tip to beautify the embroidery design.

Procedure Of Embroidery On Flannel

If you have an embroidery machine, there are endless projects to work on. In this technological world, one can personalize items in a way they want with the use of embroidery machines. In this post, we will discuss the method of embroidery on flannel. Let’s take an example of embroidered flannel baby blankets. You will not need any expensive materials. But don’t compromise on the quality of supplies.

What You Will Need:

• 1 yd. fleece and 1yd. flannel
• Embroidery machine
• Needles
• Thread(40 wt rayon)
• Markers or placement stickers
• Sulky solvy or tear-away stabilizers
• Embroidery design

Step By Step Guide About Embroidery On Flannel Baby Blanket:

Have a look at the process of embroidery on a flannel to get amazing results.

Prewash Flannel And Dry

Firstly, Prewash the flannel before embroidery and let it dry. After that press the flannel by folding the right sides together. Then press one side up to 1” from the fold to avoid a crease. Turn the fabric over and repeat to avoid flattening your flannel. Now cover the fleece fabric with flannel and pin-up flannel inside the cut edge of the fabric so that the fabric sandwiched will be folded in half for cutting.

Cut The Size Of the Blanket

Here you can take guidance from the folded side and cut straight up to one side of the blanket. You can also use a ruler to line up with the folded edges to ensure a straight side cut. A fine straight cut enables you to perform fine cutting on other sides too.

Trace Pattern

In this step, use a piece of Tear-Easy™, cut an 11” square and trace the pattern. Then pin up the pattern to the fabric corner and match the straight edges. Cut the other sides in the same way.

Pick Your Favorite Embroidery Design

You can easily download the design and can transfer it to the embroidery machine via a USB drive.

Mark the design area

Cut a 4″ square from a piece of stabilizer and then fold it in half. Now draw a line to mark the central area.

Add a hoop

You can hoop a flannel either directly to secure the fabric to stabilize itself by the use of Tear-Easy. Spray the wrong side of the fabric with temporary adhesive spray to hold the fabric on top of the stabilizer. You can also baste around the hoop as well as round the design if your embroidery machine offers you this feature. Now secure the sticky+ in the hoop and release the other sheet. Gently press the area inside the hoop with the help of a pin. After peeling the paper, press the flannel onto exposed sticky surfaces.

Stitch out your design

After basting, stitch the design to complete the embroidery on the flannel. Once you have done this, remove the hoop from the machine and snip the basting stitch from the backside of the fabric but avoid cutting off the nap. Now tear the top stabilizer from the design. 

Useful tips to consider when embroidery on flannel

There are some tips that will provide you ease when you start embroidery on flannel.

Be Careful In The Selection Of Flannel

This is because not all of the flannel comes in an equal proportion according to their weight and content. If you are using a low-standard flannel, it might be possible this flannel couldn’t bear the weight of embroidery. Try to use a flannel of good quality with a tight weave to support embroidery on the flannel.

Pre-Wash Before Flannel Before Embroidery

It is a good idea to prewash your flannel before embroidery. The reason is that flannel often has 100%cotton content and it shrinks in the laundry. And when you are going to embroider on a flannel, this fabric pulls together around your design. Pre-washing of fabric before embroidery results in a more even look.

Choose The Right Supplies

One important factor that determines your success in embroidery is the right use of supplies such as an embroidery machine, embroidery floss(rayon or polyester) embroidery scissors to trim excess thread and needles(75/11) that can easily penetrate your flannel to embroider the design. You can change the needle size according to a dense design.

Use Stabilizer In Appropriate Way

You all are familiar with the use of stabilizers when embroidering on fabrics or elsewhere. But you need to be an expert when going through this phase. A good quality cut-away and no-show mesh stabilizer is a great choice to stabilize and support your design during embroidery on the flannel. Tear-away stabilizers are only suited best with a design of low stitch count embroidered on stable flannel. You can also use backing on the backside of the design when embroidery on the flannel to avoid scratching.

If want to know about How to use Water Soluble Stabilizer visit our blog.

Topping When Necessary

Water soluble toppings like silky solvy can be considered before embroidery on a flannel with fluffy nature.

Use Of Placement Stickers

The use of placement stickers and markers is useful to mark the area when embroidered on flannel. It will let you decide the direction where you want to go with your design.

Hooped Your Flannel Appropriately

This is the important step of embroidery on flannel. The best thing about using flannel for embroidery is that it can be easily hooped.

Hooping of stabilized flannel is necessary to prevent puckering and its movement during embroidery.

Conclusion

That’s all about embroidery on the flannel as this fabric is highly usable during the fall and winter seasons. It feels soft to the touch and sturdy to add attractiveness to the embroidery design on a variety of materials as listed above. The use of embroidered flannel outfits and bedding materials not only keeps you warm and comfortable when the temperature gets lower but also cherishes your personality. It’s up to you whether you do embroidery on a flannel to personalize your fabrics or to add it to your store for selling purposes. Just be conscious of the tips you are advised to follow to get desirable results in embroidery on flannel.