Do you know what lies close to the most distinguishing part of your body ? – the neckline! It frames your face and makes it all the more attractive than it already is; Which is why people care so much about choosing their necklines. And, neck embroidery designs can transform a plain neckline into a work of art, ensuring your outfit stands out.
Customized embroidery allows you to have unique, one-of-a-kind garments. They look good on clothes for specific occasions, such as weddings, cultural ceremonies, or formal events.
So, would you want to decorate your neckline with embroidery?
Here is how I would go about drawing the embroidery designs for neckline and stitching it.
Choosing the neck embroidery design
You can bring your own unique style and personality into your clothes by designing your own embroidery pattern. Choose specific designs, colors, and patterns for the embroidery that matches your preference as well as the clothing you are going to work it on.
Simple neck embroidery designs
The most simple & easy neckline embroidery design is to make outline stitches like stem stitch, or chain stitch along the neckline in a single layer or double layer and then add some beads to it.
To make the knot stitches as I have done, follow the steps given below:
Start by coming up from the back of the fabric and take a very small stitch 1/4 inch from where you came up.
After this, bring up the needle.
Bring the needle out to the left through the first stitch
Bring out the needle
Bring up the needle again through the loop of the stitch from the left.
Tighten the thread – you have a knot formed.
Continue making the outline knot stitches around the neckline.
Make more than one such lines. And then decorate with sequins, or add beads or stick rhinestones.
You can use any of the braid stitches mentioned in this post for making better designs than the one above. I love that post of mine, if I may say so myself, because they are all so useful.
For more elaborate designs – Mark your design
The best way to embroider, is to embroider before cutting the pattern of your dress. Just mark the pattern, and then mark the embroidery design and then do the embroidery and then cut the pattern.
But it is not a hard and fast rule. You can embroider on your finished neckline as well.
Simple flower designs can be marked as a circle, and you can fill in the circle with either bullion stitches, buttonhole stitches or French knot embroidery stitches.
If you want a more symmetrical design or an elaborate one, it is better to sketch it on a tracing sheet and then transfer it to the fabric using a carbon sheet. Otherwise you will struggle to get the symmetry and also make a mess on the fabric.
If you are using simple outline stitches, like I have done below, you can just mark the outline of the neckline, 1/4 inch or so to the inside. Ensure that you are using a tape measure and marking exactly and equidistantly from the neckline edge. What I mean is, do not wing it – though you may think that you have got it right, it might look glaringly obvious that you haven’t, after you have put in all the effort of completing the embroidery.
Start embroidering
When embroidering dense designs, you will need to keep the fabric taut. This is needed to keep a uniform tension on the fabric – for this, you will have to keep the fabric on an embroidery hoop. Use a hoop large enough for the neckline design you are stitching to fit inside. Else, you will have to move the hoop around when one area is finished and this is difficult and your stitches will get squashed under the hoop.
Place the top hoop over the bottom hoop and fabric. Tigten the nut on the embroidery hoop till the fabric is somewhat taut.
After the work is done, keep the facing for the neckline face down on the neckline.
Sew from the back so that you can see the thread of the embroidery to guide you. Sew close to the embroidery design, so that there is no gap.
Cut the neckline, leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Understitch along the facing and the seam allowance, very close to the stitching.
Bring the facing to the back of the neckline.
If you have understitched neatly and closely, the facing will automatically fall to the back of the neckline.
The neckline after the facing is turned to the back.
Cute and small flowers are very pretty on the necklines of blouses and kids clothes.
To embroider these roses, you have to draw small circles which are equal in size (or the size you want) and then make odd numbered straight stitches.
Then thread is woven under, over, under, these straight stitches to get the rose shape. Check out this post on rose embroidery stitches to learn how to do it. Complete the flower embroidery with embroidered leaves.
Finish sewing your neckline. And complete sewing your top.
Another simple embroidery design idea is to use lazy daisy stitches along the neckline.
Mark a line and semi-circles along the neckline and work the lazy daisy stitches in the shape of flowers.
After this complete the neckline stitching and add beads, or leave it as it is.
Lazy daisy is a chain stitch variation and a very versatile stitch. And you can make pretty flowers with this stitch alone.
Related posts: Make jeweled necklines; Names of various necklines; Hand Embroidery Guide for beginners; Basic stitches used in embroidery.
Adding beads with embroidery stitches.
There are several different bead embroidery stitches you can use to add beads to your fabric.
The simplest is to just add the beads in a line. You have to choose a thin needle with an even thinner eye to string small beads -otherwise they couldn’t get through.
First mark your neckline – add a parallel line to your neckline and sew herringbone stitches in a row.
Take up 4 or 5 beads on your needle.
Bring the needle down.
And then bring it up through the last but one bead that you have already sewn.
Now thread through the last bead.
Pull it up. This will attach the beads more securely than simply stringing the beads.
Add beads to the intersections of the embroidery stitches.
