Embroider over snags in your blouse

Does your cat sometimes get her claws caught in your clothes, leaving snags in your blouses? Have you ever thought to embroider something nice over those snags, so that they are no longer visible?

That's exactly what the owner of this blouse had in mind, but she wasn't convinced she'd be able to pull it off. So I did it for her. Together, we studied the damage that had been done, and the solutions that were available. We came to the conclusion that we could easily cover each snag up with one single daisy, but that it would probably look a bit weird to have 3 daisies seemingly haphazardly embroidered across the front of this blouse. So we decided to add more daisies, with stems and leaves, and that gave a whole different result.

Do you have a blouse like this lying around that you would like me to repair for you? Feel free to drop me a line, and together we can find a solution. Are you willing to give it a go yourself? Then read on to find out what materials you need, and how to proceed.

What do you need?

• Scissors
• Embroidery needle
• A pencil or pen with removable ink
• Embroidery floss: white for the flower petals, green for the stems and leaves, and yellow for the flower heart
• A small round object that you can use as a mould. Think a coin, or a sewing bobbin

How to embroider over snags

1. Place your blouse on a flat surface in front of you, and carefully look where the snags are located. Keep in mind by having such a thorough look, you'll most likely see additional snags and faults that you hadn't noticed before. Extra work, or extra opportunities, depending how you look at it.
   
2. Do you see some thread hanging out of the snag. Use a fine hook latch or a crochet hook to carefully pull the thread back in, towards the inside of your blouse.
   
3. Put your round object on the snag, and aim the snag to be in the middle of your round object.
4. Take your pencil or pen, and draw around your object.
5. Draw some extra stems and leaves around the circle you drew. Add extra circles in those places where you want to add extra flowers.
   
6. Split your embroidery floss into 2 or 3 threads, depending on how thick the fabric of your blouse is, and how thick you want your lines to be.
7. Embroider as follows:
   • Use your green embroidery floss to embroider the stems.
     
   • Use your yellow embroidery floss and a French knot to embroider the flower hearts. Embroider these over or right next to the snags you're covering up.
     
   • Use your white embroidery floss and a laisy daisy stitch to embroider the petals. Aim your loops around following the circles you drew, to get a nice round flower.
     
8. Remove the lines you drew with water or with heat, depending on the type of pencil or pen you used to draw your design.
9. Wear with pride!

Do you have a blouse with snags lying around that needs fixing? Feel free to drop me a line, and together we can find a solution.