- Coco Chanel said, "In order to be irreplaceable, "one must always be different."

Today our guest will show us how to make our garments irreplaceable.

Our topic is hand embroidery.

Where and how we embroider our garments and make them truly one of a kind.

The threads, the colors, the stitches.

You'll learn great tips that make it easy.

Our guest Vaune Pierce will make it fun.

All today on Fit 2 Stitch.

(gentle electronic music) (gentle piano music) - [Announcer] Fit 2 Stitch is made possible by Pendelton, Vogue Fabrics, Bennos Buttons, Kai Scissors, OC Sewing, Mike Gunther Industries, and Sew Steady.

- When I'm shopping and making my little observations, I notice that a little bit of hand stitching just really changes up a garment.

Hand stitching is easy, it's simple, and I'm not gonna be the one to tell you that, Vaune's going to do that for us.

I've asked Vaune to come on to really just, this is what you do.

- This is what I do.

- To do hand stitching and teach us why, I wanna get into your brain kind of, why you use, what you use, when you use it.

Can we do that?

- Yes we can.

- You can just take your brain and put it out for us.

- Right there.

- Where did hand stitching even-- - You know I think that hand stitching probably evolved as soon as a needle was invented.

When the first fabric came about and there was a needle, you know that somebody said, "I need to do something with this."

Just like I do when I look at garments that I have, whether they're store bought or I make them, what can I do to make them mine, what can I do to jazz them up?

- So it's about personalizing it for you?

- Sure it is.

- Yeah, I think we really need to notice this stuff, take us on a little tour.

Show us what you've done.

- So I've brought a few garments with me.

The first one is this jacket that has a print in it.

And what I did was I took some of the motifs and I embellished them with embroidery.

So on this particular flower, I used a running stitch.

On the one up by the collar I did an outline stitch.

- So you didn't even do them all the same?

- No, I wanted them different.

- I love that.

I love that.

- [Vaune] This is another running stitch, there's one over here that-- - [Peggy] Oh, you did just the middle one right there.

- That's a little granito, and then on this one on this collar, I did a running stitch but then I whipped it so that I had two different colors in there.

And I made them-- - Now did you see this somewhere?

- No, I wanted more color on the collar.

I didn't want every single motif embroidered, and I may go back and do some of the motifs on the front bodice.

I wouldn't do them on the skirt because there's gathers in here and-- - You wanna keep your focus up here anyway.

- Because when you look at somebody, you look at their face.

- Sure.

- You shouldn't be looking down here.

And so that's where you want their gaze to be directed.

- But I have seen stuff like this on ready to wear, and just that little bit like that, and it's very, very, it sends the price right back up.

- And it doesn't take a lot to make an impact.

- This is not as many hours as smocking.

- No, it's not nearly as many hours as smocking.

So that's a good thing.

The next garment I brought to look at is this blouse.

It's tailored, it's got a little cap sleeve on it, but I wanted something extra along the neckline, so I did what's called the bullion stitch, and normally you see that stitch in roses and rosebuds, but I didn't want roses and rosebuds on here, it's too tailored.

So what I did was I did little scallops all around the collar band.

- [Peggy] It's so pretty, it's like a perfect touch.

- Yeah, adds just a little bit, but it keeps the tailored-ness of the garment intact.

So that's another one that I did.

- So that's bullion, what was this?

- This is a running stitch, a whipped running stitch, I did some-- - Just gotta get these names down now.

- This is a granito.

- Got it, that's over there.

- [Vaune] And then this one I just did little French knots in the center.

- [Peggy] Okay, all right.

- And then-- - Those three stitches go a long ways.

- Yes, and there's a lot of variations.

Once you learn the basic stitches, there's a lot of different variations that you can do to the same stitch to change it up and make it look different without doing a completely different stitch.

- Do you just make that up, or does somebody else make it up and you're supposed to do what they do?

- Sometimes you make it up, sometimes when you've made it up you think, you find out that someone else already did it, and sometimes it's already done and you just get directions.

- Got it, got it.

- The last garment that I brought actually is ready to wear.

I bought this, it's a little white shell, I had several of them, 'cause you know when you find them on sale it's a good basic garment to have-- - So you can always embroider on what you already have?

- [Vaune] Exactly, and so what I did was I put granitos all along the outside of the collar through the back.

- [Peggy] It's a great way to tie in some fabrics, just to tie them together.

- Yes, and then to kind of top it off what I did was I went and took out the white thread of the buttons and put black, so that carried it down the placket.

- [Peggy] It's a nice touch.

And it gives a nice vertical line as well.

- And I didn't have to sew it.

So that made it even better, because I could get this done in an evening.

- We are sewers, Vaune.

- Instead of starting from scratch on this.

- That's okay, but either way, whatever works.

- So all of these are great examples of adding a little bit of embroidery that can give you an impact and really personalize your garments to make them your own.

- Show us how.

- Okay.

- Show us how.

We can learn this?

- Yes, you can learn this.

- All right, I'm gonna watch and learn.

- It's easy.

I'm gonna start with a basic running stitch, and that is very easy to do.

You're gonna start from the wrong side of your fabric.

And I'm gonna go around this thread.

If you are worried about wanting to be a little bit more precise, you can go ahead and trace wherever you want your design to go if you don't want to freehand it, so that's always an option.

But you're gonna take your needle and you're just gonna go in and out along that line.

- [Peggy] So running literally means-- - You're just taking your needle and you're running it through the fabric.

Without the scissors.

- [Peggy] Appropriately named.

- Yes.

- And I've seen running stitches a lot on high end jackets, on the lapels.

And you know what I've noticed about them?

They're not consistently the same.

- No, and I don't know if that's on purpose or accidental.

- I think it's on purpose because a machine can't do it-- - No.

- And it's your way of knowing that it's been done by hand.

- Done by hand.

You don't want to get too, too far out of balance.

The one thing you want to watch with running stitches, if you are going around a curve, is that to keep your curve rounded, you're gonna take shorter stitches when you're going around a curve.

- [Peggy] Oh, that makes sense.

Like a sewing machine.

- [Vaune] Exactly.

So that's something that you want to keep in mind as you're going around.

Anything that's gonna curve in or curve out.

- Otherwise it won't look like, it won't look like a curve, it'll start to look like pointed angles.

- It'll start to be a hexagon or a, whatever.

Pentagon or however many angles you're gonna have in there.

You can go in what's called a stick and stab method, where you-- - Sounds like surgery.

- Yes, it is, well you're doing surgery on fabric.

Where you actually put your needle in and pull it out and then you put your needle back down in the fabric and pull it from the underside, so you're sticking and stabbing.

- [Peggy] You think stick and stab is for rookies?

- No, because at the Royal School of Needlework, which I've taken some classes there, they stick and stab almost everything.

Or, I think it's easier if you take it, and this is the sewing method, where you're gonna go in and out-- - [Peggy] Uh-huh.

- [Vaune] In the same motion.

So that's the running stitch.

- So how did you decide pink over white over yellow?

- On this background, I would use pink or the cream color.

I wouldn't use navy, because you're gonna lose it in there.

- Again, just depends on the look you want, though.

- Right.

And inside the flower, I could use navy or, if I'm starting in the center I would use cream.

If I'm doing it somewhere in the petals I wouldn't use cream necessarily there, but I would use the pink or the navy.

- So a question pops into my mind, can I ask this?

- Yes.

- And you're gonna have, this was, I know by trade you're degreed in engineering and physics.

- Yes.

- So, it's just a little, the running stitch, there's just a little contrast there.

Can you make that-- - Well, you know.

- How did it happen?

- I always liked stitching.

I learned how to sew when I was eight, my great-aunt taught me.

- If I remember correctly, you worked on bombs, is that correct?

- Yes, I worked for Texas Instruments in Sherman, Texas, so I lived here for a couple years.

- So basically when it comes full circle is it's what you love to do.

- It is what I love to do.

When I started having kids I got back into the embroidery and I learned how to smock, and I stayed home with my kids when they were little and this was my me-time.

I'd put them to bed, and I could sit and stitch and that was my relaxing-- - [Peggy] That's really cool.

- Get my head back in the game type of thing.

- So we can do that, this is real simple.

- This is very simple.

The next stitch I want to show you is a granito, and I'm gonna do that in the center-- - [Peggy] Granito.

- Of one of these flowers.

Granito is Spanish for-- - That sounds like a bomb, did you name that?

- Spanish for seed stitch.

When I was in Madeira-- - [Peggy] Seed stitch.

- Seed, it's like a little seed.

And when you stitch it, it's gonna look like a half a ball on the top of your fabric.

The trick with the granito is you're gonna go in and out of the exact same holes every time.

You always go in it at A, which is above, and you come out at B, which is below, of your center.

- So my mind says if you go in and out of the same hole, won't it just, what makes it-- - Well, in at A, out at B.

In at A, out at B.

- I see.

- So A is always the same, B is always the same.

If you don't go in the same hole every time and out the same hole every time, what happens is instead of being a nice rounded ball like this, it flattens out on the top and the bottom so you don't have that nice roundedness, it looks more like a rectangle.

- [Peggy] Got it.

- For this stitch, you don't need, I'm gonna clip this knot off here, you don't actually need to have a knot on your thread.

You're gonna start with a split stitch, and all a split stitch is is you're gonna take a stitch in the middle of your fabric, and you're gonna take your needle and go to the back, splitting that thread, which is why it's called a split stitch.

And if you've ever sewn-- - [Peggy] So you didn't even tie a knot in that one.

- Nope.

- But that's okay, it happens.

You just know that next time you've gotta-- - Make sure it's there.

If you've ever sewn through a stitch and tried to pick it out, it's next to impossible.

And that's essentially what you're doing on this.

- [Peggy] But it actually kind of goes into the cloth.

- Yes.

So I've got a tiny little split stitch here.

My granito's gonna cover that, so I'm gonna come out at B, which is below, and then I'm gonna go in at A, which is above.

And that's how you remember that.

And out at B, and in at A.

And before I do any more of these, I'm gonna put my peepers on.

- Those cheaters.

- Yeah, when I started doing this years ago, I had perfect eyesight, and now, my bifocals are about a 2.75, so I need good cheaters just to-- - So did this drive you blind, or do you think it was other things?

- No, you know I wore glasses as a kid, and they told me I'd have 10 years between like 16 and 26, and I lasted 'til 45, so-- - [Peggy] You did good.

- I can't complain about having to wear glasses.

- [Peggy] So you're going in A, you're going out B, A is above B, those are my instructions.

- And this is gonna take about 10 stitches.

- [Peggy] And you've only got two threads, is that-- - [Vaune] Actually I only have one thread.

- [Peggy] Oh, you only have one.

So if you had two, would you only have to go five times?

- What happens when you have two is your threads get twisted and they don't lay right next to each other, so you don't get the same look as if you stitched with just one stitch.

- So as you're doing that are you laying your threads-- - The first several I don't, the last two or three I'll look and say hmm, I think it needs to be more on the right side or the left side and I'll place those with my thumb like this, I think this needs to be more over on the left side, so I'm gonna put that.

- [Peggy] So you can actually direct it as you're, before you tighten it up you can actually direct it.

- Okay, and I'm gonna do one more.

- So when you say 10, do you personally, literally count to 10.

- You know, when I'm doing these, the number of stitches you take depends on the bite between A and B.

And it also depends on how thick your thread is that you're using.

- So that leads to a very good question, you're basing this bite on the inside of that flower, right now.

- Yes.

Right, if I were doing something smaller, I might only need seven or eight stitches.

You don't want to get much bigger than this, because what happens is in order to get enough thread to get that half of a sphere look, you have to put it in so many times when it gets too big that what happens is instead of having that nice granito, what you have is a knot of thread with two big holes at the top and the bottom because you've gone through the fabric so many times.

- And you've pulled too tight.

- Not necessarily pulled too tight, but if you put 15 threads through a hole, there's gonna be a hole there that's noticeable.

So you don't want to get it too big.

Once you get past about a generous quarter of an inch, you really want to go to a padded satin stitch for that shape instead of a granito.

- [Peggy] Got it.

- It just doesn't lend well to itself.

- Well I've noticed that in fashion, they're doing a lot of this on jeans.

- Yes.

- Down the legs of jeans.

- Yes.

- And you're really talking a lot of money.

- [Vaune] I know.

Well, it's, okay, I'm gonna quit just for a second, I'm gonna end this off.

To finish this you don't have to knot it either, what you're gonna do, is you're gonna bring your thread straight up through the middle of that ball.

- [Peggy] And you don't have to knot this?

- [Vaune] No, and what it did was it just stitched through all those layers of thread in there.

- Oh, interesting.

- So in Madeira, they do not knot any of their stuff.

- [Peggy] Really?

That's fascinating.

- And you just clip it really close, and it's, you can wash it, it stays, 'cause you've just made one huge knot in the middle of that.

- I just have a hard time believing that wouldn't wedge its way out.

- No, it stays.

It stays just like that.

- But if they do it in, that's good for me, if they do it in Madeira, it's good for me.

- It's good for you, yeah.

- That's really interesting.

- The next stitch I want to show you is a bullion.

And a lot of people are afraid of this particular stitch, but if you practice a little bit, because no stitch is gonna be perfect the first time.

- So I know bullion to be soup.

- A bullion, well yeah.

- Sorry.

It's a little ignorant, but my truth.

- It is a soup, but that's not what we're doing in here.

- [Peggy] It's also gold?

- I wish it was, I wish I could get paid for my bullions like gold.

The little bullions on the neckline of the blouse.

- [Peggy] I have to say one comment on that.

- Yes.

- My grandmother and my mother made a quilt for me when I was younger.

I did not want anything to do with that quilt.

That quilt, 'cause they're both gone, that quilt, those hand stitches, are priceless to me.

- Yes.

- So when you said you wish you could get paid.

- Yes.

- I think there's somebody around that will dearly love those for many years to come.

- It's, yeah, I did not appreciate the things that I did when I was a kid, I learned how to embroider, I was seventh grade and I don't know if you remember that, not denim, but the chambray shirts with the embroidery?

- [Peggy] Sure, sure.

- So myself and my next two brothers in line, we went and got a Simplicity pattern, ironed those suckers on there, and we all embroidered the little Indian headdress and there was a bumblebee, and if you lived through the '70s you know exactly what I'm talking about.

- I don't think there's a better way to say I love you than some hand work.

- Okay, so the next one is a bullion.

And this is a stitch where you have to wrap around the needle.

So you're gonna come out at A and go in at B, which is below, and then you're gonna come out again at, I call it A1, it's just a thread away from A.

You don't want to be in the exact same hole, but it's right next door.

- [Peggy] Okay.

- And then you're gonna be wrapping the thread around the needle.

So I need to push this through a little bit, pull this up.

So I'm gonna wrap, I'm gonna say about 10 times.

- Would you always hoop your fabric?

- Usually when I do bullions I don't necessarily hoop.

And that's another thing, when I learned how to embroider in Madeira, they did everything in their hand because they said the most natural motion you have is to eat.

This is the first thing you learn.

So this is how they do all their stitching, everything is stitched in their hand over their fingers like this.

And it keeps tension off of your shoulders and your neck because you're not doing this kind of stuff, you're doing this.

And you can see what you're doing.

So there are a few stitches that I always use a hoop for, just because it saves me time and it's easier to handle.

Bullions can go either way.

- [Peggy] Okay.

- Okay, so I'm gonna wrap around this needle, and I'm gonna wrap 10 times, so I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10.

And then I'm gonna pinch, not hard, and you can see I can take my needle and I can move it back and forth through those wraps.

- [Peggy] Oh sure, sure.

- If you have to get a pair of pliers to pull your needle through, it's too tight.

It needs to be able to move.

And you wanna pinch the wraps between your thumb and your forefinger, and you're gonna bring it forward, and you'll see when you get to the end, and what I do is I take it and I kind of tug it against my thumbnail, and then I give it one little tug here, and then I'm gonna go put my needle back in the fabric at B1, right next to B but not quite in the same hole.

- [Peggy] Okay.

- [Vaune] And pull it through, and I have a nice little scallop here.

- [Peggy] You do.

- And the more wraps I put between A and B, the deeper the scallop's gonna be on there.

What that does is if I were to put 15 wraps on that, the scallop would have been deeper.

If I would have only put nine, no nine's too many, if I'd have only put seven wraps, that bullion would have laid straight.

So the more wraps you put is the more threads in the-- - You're almost creating a lacy, loopy thing-- - Exactly.

- Around the edge.

- Exactly, and that's exactly-- - So that's why your A and your B has to be close together.

- Yes.

- And the number of stitches create the little loops that go around.

- Right, and this, the difference, distance between A and B here is probably a quarter of an inch.

I could have made it a half an inch, but I would have put probably 25 to 30 wraps on there, because I had twice the space and I still wanted the swag in there.

- Well so when you mentioned the 10, really what's more important that whatever that number is, it continue to be the same all the way around or you make it 10 to 12 to 14 if you want-- - Exactly.

Exactly.

- So I think that's a fun part about knowing what part you're doing and what it's becoming so that I can actually just create any pattern I want to.

- Exactly.

And doodle cloths are good.

- [Peggy] A doodle cloth.

- A doodle cloth is something like this that you practice on.

If I sit there and I know I'm gonna wanna do something but I'm not sure of the size, I'll play around so that I know, okay, I want my stitches to be three-eighths of an inch apart and I need 24 wraps or a quarter inch apart and 12 wraps.

Whatever it is, I practice on here so that by the time I go to my garment, I know what I want to be doing on there.

- So even though, 'cause I can hear the argument, but it takes time, I don't have that much time.

The time is worthwhile spent because it's like making a muslin for a blouse.

- Exactly.

- It really does pay off.

- And I mean, you can do that in five minutes.

It's not gonna take you hours to figure that out.

And I have, some of my students, when they do that, I will admit I don't, but they'll write down, quarter inch apart, they'll write down their thread and how many stitches-- - See I think that's a good idea, because you go do something and you get distracted and then you can't remember how many times-- - Yeah, my problem is I can't find my doodle cloth so I have to start over with a new doodle cloth.

- [Peggy] My doodle cloth, I like that.

- Starting from scratch anyway.

But that's my little bullions, and that can go, you know you can do that on a ready made blouse down a placket.

You can, I mean you could put this in a lot of places and it's not frou-frou-y.

It's still fairly tailored.

- Okay so you mentioned some variations.

We've got a couple minutes, can you show us a variation?

- I'm gonna show you a chain stitch real quick.

- And chain stitches are like leaves and plants, aren't they, the base?

- They're very basic, and what you're doing, and I'm using two different colors of threads on this so I can show you a variation.

I'm gonna start off with just the plain chain stitch.

You're gonna start out, you're gonna come out at A.

- [Peggy] Now is a chain stitch a variation of the running stitch?

- [Vaune] No.

- [Peggy] Oh a chain stitch is just-- - [Vaune] It's a looped stitch, yeah.

So I'm gonna go in at B, which is right next to A, and then I'm gonna go down a space and I'm gonna pull my needle through, but I'm gonna keep the thread below.

- [Peggy] Oh, see, I knew this stitch years ago.

- [Vaune] This is like, your basic embroidery stitch.

- [Peggy] All right so wait, you went in at A, what'd you do?

- I came out at A, in at B, wait a minute.

In at B, and then came out at C, which is about a quarter inch away.

But when I pulled it, the thread had to stay below the needle.

Now I'm gonna do a variation of this, and I'm gonna show you how you can make two different colored chain stitches alternating.

So this time, when I pull, I'm only keeping the pink thread-- - [Peggy] Oh, that's cute.

- [Vaune] Below the needle.

The cream thread went above the needle, so what happens is that disappears.

And when you put a bunch of chain stitch together in a circle, that's what makes a lazy daisy flower.

- That is incredible.

- You keep going with the alternating colors.

- I think you could have five more.

Thank you, Vaune.

- You're welcome, have a great day.

- I really appreciate it.

You know, you can see where this is, I think for a sewer, it's just stuff we should know, because I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't enjoy just taking their jeans and just stitching just, who they are, their color threads, their flowers, their patterns, wrapping it as many times as they want.

It's perfect.

I love skirts.

I have some ideas for skirts that will make you love them too.

The skirts we will create are simple, they're fun, and they're very wearable.

Join us next time on Fit 2 Stitch.

(gentle piano music) - [Announcer] Fit 2 Stitch is made possible by Pendelton, Vogue Fabrics, Bennos Buttons, Kai Scissors, OC Sewing, Mike Gunther Industries, and Sew Steady.

To order a four DVD set of Fit 2 Stitch Series Eight, please visit our website at fit2stitch.com.