How to Make an Embroidered Polo Shirt

Are you feeling that your polo shirts are too common when walking on the streets? Just do the embroidery at home by yourself, and you can add a personal touch to your plain polo shirt. Embroidery consists of decorating material using a needle with thread or yarn to create designs. A professional embroidery look is easy to achieve with the right techniques and craft supplies. Here are some tips on how to make a simple embroidered polo shirt.

1. Choose a spot on your shirt where you would like the design to go. Some common places include on the pocket or just above the pocket. Both left and right side are OK.

2. Select a design for the shirt. If you're a beginner embroiderer, choose a ready-made iron design in your local fabric or craft store until you get the hang of embroidery. If you prefer to draw the design, transfer your creation to iron-on paper. Remember a good design is vital to your will-be embroidered polo shirt.

3. Iron on the design by placing the transfer paper upside down on your shirt and running a hot iron across the back of the design, according to the directions on the transfer. If there are missing lines in the design after you've ironed the design, use a washable fabric pen to create them.

4. Place the embroidery hoop over the spot where you will be working, if you choose to use one. The hoop acts to secure the spot tightly in place and make embroidering easier. Put the bottom of the hoop on the bottom of the shirt and tightly screw the two sides together to hold in place.

5. Embroider your design by following the ironed-on pattern and using one of many common embroidery stitches. The most basic stitch is a backstitch, which works by inserting the needle underneath the shirt, pulling it out, and then inserting it one stitch-length behind where you took it out to create your first stitch. Then bring it back out one stitch-length ahead of the original insert and once again go back, this time to the spot of the original insert. Bring it out one stitch-length ahead of your farthest stitch. This is the most important step in making an embroidered polo shirt.

6. Cut off the extra thread and tie a knot on the inside of the shirt. Wash the embroidered polo shirt to remove any wrinkles that were created from the pressure of the embroidery hoop.

Of course you can also turn to some online companies that offer custom embroidery on polo shirts. Buy Corporate Apparel is a good choice.