Remember a few months back when I was on the hunt for the perfect denim jacket? Well, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided that I need to just create my own. Here’s how I went about making my DIY embroidered denim jacket.
Making the Template
After deciding what I wanted my jacket to say, I set out to create a template for it. I picked OAF 300 as the font, but there are so many fonts out there to download so you can find really anything you like. I then measured the area of my jacket I wanted to embroider and then set up an Illustrator artboard to those dimensions. Then I laid things out in Illustrator how I liked, mostly making sure that the letters were big enough to fill the space on the back of my jacket appropriately. From there, I printed my template out then cut out the letters individually.
I attempted to measure out my letter placement, but ultimately I arranged my template letters just by eyeing them. I pinned them in place hoping to keep everything together.
Next came tracing. I tried using a fabric pencil for this, but neither the white nor the blue pencil was showing up on the denim. So, I ended up using some chalk we had lying around.
This worked pretty well, but I did end up having to re-trace my letters throughout since the chalk rubbed off so easily.
Embroidering the Jacket
Honestly, creating the template and spacing the letters was the hardest part of this project. With all of that taken care of, all I had to do was embroider following the template! Of course, I say that like it all came together so quickly, but it actually took me a few months to finish my jacket. Most of that was just me losing interest though, so it could be finished much more quickly.
I’ve worn this jacket a bunch since finishing it and I love it! It’s certainly not perfect (hello wonky AF “I”) but I feel just a little bit cooler when I wear it. I’ve considered doubling up the outline to make the letters stand out more, but so far I’ve been wearing it as is. It’s perfect for listening to my Girl Gang Fight Songs playlist and getting ready to take over the world.
If you’ve ever wanted a custom denim jacket, I highly recommend going the DIY embroidered denim jacket route! It’s not technically challenging by any means, and you end up with a one of a kind piece. Of course, now I want to make like three more jackets, but that’s just the way it goes.
