I’ve owned this black hoodie for more than a decade. It is medium weight, warm, and well made. To have a perfect black hoodie is just as essential as a little black dress, which has been affectionately acronymed to the LBD. While the LBD is usually reserved for formal events, the black hoodie is casual, which means it gets a lot more wear than the LBD. So it is a perfect vessel for a little personalization.
Embroidery is an ancient art to adorn plain fabric with patterns and colors. I think of embroidery as pencil coloring, where each stitch is a pencil stroke. Embroidery can be as intricate as a painting. And the black hoodie’s medium weight is a suitable backdrop for such elaborate embroidery, because it can hold many stitches without being weighed down. For this piece, I used two stitch patterns – the whip stitch and the back stitch. The whip stitch uses twice the thread’s length, thus providing a more solid and filled-in look and feel. The back stitch saves on thread, good for when a finer pattern is desired.
This sweater is an instance where only the back stitch was utilized. The sweater is made of the finest wool, which is cashmere, sheared only from the undercoat of cashmere goats and pashmina goats. Cashmere wool is soft, does not itch, and drapes smoothly. But it was rather weirdly designed. First it was fully plain and grey. Then two extra long belts were sewn onto it on each side, requiring double looping when tied, thus adding extra bulk. I thought I could live with the belts, given the material’s top quality. But once rested in my closet, it hardly ever saw the light of day.
The first task was to detach the two belts from the sweater, as one belt was already sufficient for tying. I extended the belt’s ends with pieces from an old scarf. The embroidery design picked up the scarf’s colors. Since the sweater is delicate and light weight, I employed a geometric motif using only back stitches to keep it from being weighed down.
Just simple altering and an easy embroidery pattern can give much interest and wearability to your clothes. Inherently, it took much longer to embroider the intricate details on the black hoodie than altering the cashmere sweater. Embroidery is not difficult, but requires patience and attention to details. For something to keep for a long time, it’s worth the work. You’ll wear it more often, and you’ll love it each time.
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