Summer Shorts

I wanted to get some shorts fixed up for summer. I picked these because they looked a little plain when I got them and were missing the string in the center. I found a bright blue string for them and designed a small motif to make for top left corner. I wanted something that looked lacy and matched the string.

 

I drew a few different designs and decided on a swirly pattern with small flowers between them. I made a copy of that and flipped it around to place in the bottom right corner to add some more decoration to the bottom of the shorts.

I coloured in the drawing and made the center of the flowers to match the  blue string. I copied the design again and cut off the edges right up to the swirls. It can be hard to copy designs onto denim because it is so thick and dark. I used a black fine line marker which is a little risky cause any errors have to be covered. I drew around the edges and then redrew the rest on the shorts using the edges for guidelines.

I started by working the lines of the swirls with a stem stitch to make them look more rounded and curly.

I made the center of the flowers with Satin Stitch. Each of the flower petals was outlined in Split Stitch then Satin Stitched over top. The split stitch outline raises the Satin Stitches and helps define the edge.

The picots were added last each one is an Open Chain Stitch which easily followed the swirly lines. The Stem Stitch swirls and the flowers were done right away. The picots took a little longer than I would have liked. Overall the embroidery made the shorts a lot more interesting to look at and gave them a more delicate look.