Sometimes it just takes a thoughtful detail to elevate a style, to make it really special and unique. Whether you add these details to your own sewing or to something you already own, many of these ideas I’ve gathered for you can be added at your leisure, as a little whimsy. I’m about to take a very long flight, and I’m planning to bring along my embroidery kit so I can add a few of these details to some of my clothing while I’m in transit, which for some reason is one of the only times I feel like I have time for slow-stitching projects. You could also add them during a long car ride or while watching TV, provided you don’t get motion sickness or aren’t watching something with subtitles! I love to take projects like this with me. Do you, too?
1. If you love the look of a hand-sewn buttonhole, you can always add embroidery to a machine-sewn buttonhole and make it really special and unique as well. Sketch your design around the buttonhole with a water-soluble fabric pen or a very light pencil to guide you, then stitch away!
2. A running stitch or backstitch in a contrast color will add a beautiful handmade detail to the cuffs and plackets of a Classic Shirt sleeve and really helps to add emphasis to these otherwise subtle details.
3. Add a few tassels to your buttons! You could even make these removeable if you add a loop at the top, and that way you can slip them over any button of the same size. I have a CreativeBug class for making tassels if you’re interested in trying this.
4. Isn’t this gathered sleeve a great detail? I would try this with one of our dropped sleeve styles like the Chacarita Wrap Dress, the Santa Rosa Top, the Fira Dress + Top, or the Verdun Woven Tee. To do this, use the existing sleeve pattern piece but make it about two times wider, or measure the edge of the armhole and cut a rectangle twice as wide as the measurement. Then gather the top and bottom edges and add a binding at the bottom edge. So cute!
5. You could use a cute or funny button (a spider, maybe?) and a running stitch to add a little whimsy to a shirt, tee, or jacket. Or try a little cross stitch for another unexpected detail. (Hint: waste canvas makes this easy.)
6. If you aren’t much for hand embroidery, what about a machine-stitched detail like this clever collar embellishment using just straight stitches and well-placed bartacks? This, too, would be great on our Classic Shirt.
I’d love to see what you make if these ideas inspire you. Happy stitching!
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