DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

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DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

Still having so much fun with indigo shibori dyeing! I dip dyed this fabric when I went on a shibori bender a few weeks back and didn’t really know what I would be doing with it. But a few days ago I got all inspired and decided to dust off my (extremely minimal) embroidery skills! I’m kinda digging the old school embroidery vibe mixed with the tie dye feel. It’s like crafty worlds colliding.

Materials

  • white fabric (flour sack material works great)
  • indigo dye kit
  • bucket
  • waterproof drop cloth
  • embroidery thread
  • embroidery needle
  • embroidery hoop
  • scissors
  • pencil
  • glue gun

Make Time: 2 Hours (plus drying time) for dyeing; 1 Hour for embroidery

If you’d like to do the project with hand dyed fabric, follow the dyeing tutorial from this post. Once the fabric is dyed, cleaned, and dry, gather your embroidery materials.

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

Insert the fabric into the hoop (this hoop is 8″), being sure that the area of fabric you’d like to feature is centered in the hoop. Pull the fabric taut on all edges. Tighten the screw on the hoop and keep pulling the fabric until it’s tight.

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

Cut around the edges of the hoop so that there’s about an inch of fabric overhanging it.

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

With a pencil, lightly sketch on the words or image you’d like to embroider.

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

I used a sort of variation on a back stitch. Thread your needle and knot the ends of the thread together. Starting behind the fabric, make a tiny stitch at the start of one letter. Then come back up through the fabric about halfway through your first stitch. Continue in the same way, making a chain. When you get to the end of your embroidery, knot the thread behind the fabric and snip your thread.

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

Readjust your fabric in the hoop if needed. Finally, spread a thin line of hot glue around the back side of the inner hoop and press the excess fabric into it so that it’s tucked behind the hoop.

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

This one took some time but I love knowing that it’s hand-dyed fabric and hand-embroidered as well. I spent a good amount of time deciding what words to use, too — I wanted something lovely but something that wouldn’t take ten years to embroider, ya know? Sensible. I’d love to know what you’d put on it! xoxo

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

DIY Indigo Dyed Embroidery

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18 Comments

  1. I love this! You are right- a great combo of old school meets trendy. I have a feeling if I start the dip dying, I might go a little crazy too.

  2. That’s really cute, though I’m pretty intimidated by dyeing. I guess I should try it sometime.

  3. looove this! my sister has been getting into embroidery. i should ask her to make it for me 😛

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  5. I love this so much! I feel like hand stitching is a dying art. I love that you are bringing it back too and I dig the “perfectly imperfect” vibe that hand stitching gives 🙂

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  7. So so lovely! I adore those words you chose to embroider. On another note, I really like your blog design!

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