PREPPING:
Prepping is very important to understanding what it is you are are working with that will set the path for the entire project. For my material, I choose voile which is as opaque as organza, but there is a body to the material. Of course, you can choose any material you want from fine tulle or maybe cotton. Just remember how the embroidery feature from the Janome Skyline S9 will react.
Another material I will be using is horsehair braid for structure work. While I’m only using a straight stitch, I’ll be using my HD9BE simply because I trust it more with stiffer materials and not potentially damage the machine dedicated to embroidery.
For your shirt panels, be sure to be careful with each one so the sheer material wouldn’t fray or be damaged with the intense embroidery.
EMBROIDERY:
The Janome Skyline S9 has wonderful embroidered text designs for your own choosing if you don’t want to install your own text. Play around with the text sizes and placement. Be sure to use the provided plastic grids so you can align the design exactly where you want it. All of my words were love quotes from the anime and manga. After you embroidered each piece as you like, sew them together with a straight stitch. Don’t forget to hem the shirt so it doesn’t fray. If you want to have buttons on the shirt, be sure to look into the button hole feature on the Janome Skyline S9!
BOW TIE:
Pattern out the bow tie to your liking. Do not forget to consider if you’re doing folds and what not. Use that same pattern to create the bow structure.
For the structure, I chose to sew horsehair braid together. For this, I used the HD9BE for it’s reliable stitching, and it is also a straight stitch - which is all I need. Don’t forget to seal off the edges of the horsehair braid so it doesn’t fray and prick your skin. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos documenting this process. But horsehair braid is very strong in keeping it’s shape, so be sure to really pin or find anyway to hold your edges together so you do not lose your place.
I created another strip of fabric to act like a “scrunchie” to squeeze the middle together.
FLORALS:
For the florals, I had floral appliques (and also made some) and pinned them into place as I needed. I recommend hand-stitching these flowers on, but machine stitching is also an option. This part is really tedious, but it is worth it to sew everything on by hand. You can also take this moment to bead or add crystals if you want!
And there you have it, an embroidered shirt inspired by Sailor Moon. It is very subtle, but the details and structure are true to the Moon Kingdom. This is perfect for business meetings, special events, or just a trip to the grocery store - it’s the 21st century, wear whatever you want… like a nice shirt made with your Janome machines!
