Embroidery Tutorial: How to Care for Hand Embroidered Clothing

Learn how to care for your hand-embroidered clothing and art, with Kseniia Guseva

Hand embroidery is a meticulous and time-consuming task. It's important not to let your efforts go to waste by failing to care for it properly.

Kseniia Guseva, also known as @faimyxstitch, is a hand embroidery artist from Saint Petersburg, Russia. According to Kseniia, “embroidery makes everything better.” She is particularly passionate about architecture–and has created over 100 city patterns; upcycling; and customizing different items, such as jeans, bags, T-shirts, and even trainers. In this tutorial, she shares a number of simple and essential tips on how to make sure your pieces last.

1. Hand washing embroidery

“The best way to wash embroidery is to put it in soapy water for 20 minutes. You do it by hand, and if you have dirty patches on your garment, you can gently rub them, although it’s best not to rub directly against the embroidery. Rinse with clean water. Then, leave it to dry,” says Kseniia.

2. Using a washing machine

While Kseniia says it’s better to hand wash embroidery, you can also use a washing machine.

In the photo above, Kseniia shows us an example of a bag that was recently embroidered that she has only ever hand washed, and a bag she’s been using for a year and a half that she has only ever machine washed. You will notice that the older machine-washed piece has stray fibers coming off the embroidered thread and some pellets, whereas the hand washed piece is intact.

In the two photos below, Kseniia shows us two more examples: first, her favorite embroidered T-shirt, which she has had for two years and wears regularly; and second, one of the first T-shirts she ever embroidered. You will notice pellets both on the T-shirt and the embroidery, as the T-shirt ages as well as the pattern. In the second example below, we can see that the embroidered thread is becoming looser and starting to come undone.

If you do decide to wash your creations in the washing machine, Kseniia has some key precautionary advice:

–First of all, turn the garment inside out, so only the back of the embroidery is visible. This will help to protect the embroidery during the wash cycle.
–Put the garment inside a laundry bag before putting it in the washing machine.
–Kseniia recommends leaving the garment to air dry. She has never used a tumble dryer, so can’t guarantee it will work. If you’re thinking about using one, Kseniia insists that you try it out first on a test piece of embroidery.

3. Ironing embroidery

When it comes to ironing a garment that has been hand embroidered, Kseniia says, “You shouldn’t iron directly onto the front side; instead, iron onto the back side. It’s best if you put another item of clothing or a piece of fabric over the embroidered area before ironing.” This will act as a shield.

These tips will help make sure your creations last longer. If you would like to learn more about Kseniia’s creative process and how you can customize your clothes and accessories, sign up to her course, Upcycling with Embroidery.

You may also like:

–Upcycling Tutorial: How to start patching your clothes
–What is Surface Pattern Design?
–The History of Embroidery: From Tutankhamun to the 21st Century