by debrafay 27 Apr 2016

I have to embroider a name on my High school son's gym shorts and it has to be on the elastic band at the top. I have the design but am not sure how to do it since I have not done this before it looks like the elastic on underwear. Does any one have any Ideas.

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by jrob Moderator 02 May 2016

I'm sorry that I have missed this. I have actually done this before. Have him put the shorts on and then take your piece of stabilizer that is a bit larger than your inner hoop and secure it well to the inside of the band while it is still on him. I just used lots of pins, that way the elastic is stretched as much as it will be and when you embroider it, it's perfect when it's on him. Like Meg says, it will look funny when off, but fine while wearing.
I had a job to do some ribbed t-shirts for a client with a rather large chest, so I had her put the shirt on inside out and I pinned stabilizer onto the shirt while stretched on her body. It turned out perfectly.

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by toogie 02 May 2016

If you've read any of the suggestions or have found a different solution, it would be nice to let us know. You can do this, by editing your comment, or just making another comment below like we did We like to try to be helpful but its always nice to hear, if you got the problem fixed, however it was solved.-Toogie

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by meganne 29 Apr 2016

Not an easy job to do but it can be done.
The difficulty is that you need to stretch the elastic and hold it securely in place so that it stays stretched while you stitch the name on it.
In this way it looks all bunched up when the garment is NOT stretched but will sit correctly while the garment is being worn.
It may only need minimal stretching.

I embroidered a large butterfly on a very stretchy singlet top and it looks disgusting when not being worn but looks stunning when it is worn.

Personally, I would probably go with Sewmum1's idea and stitch it on a label, then sew the label onto the waistband. a much easier option and less chance of breaking needles.

hope this helps. hugs n roses, Meganne

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by toogie 29 Apr 2016

ttt

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by rescuer Moderator 28 Apr 2016

Let us know you have seen your answers here in the post. Cuties are wonderful and love to help!

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by toogie 28 Apr 2016

Maybe you could look at one of his friend's shorts and see how they are done.
I like Sewmum1's suggestion below of embroidering his name on a ribbon, then attaching it to the band. However, the school may have strict rules of how they want it. If not, this seems easy enough. I embroidery my name on ribbon for my projects and it does well. I use cut-a-way underneath the ribbon.
Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.-Toogie

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by Sewmum1 28 Apr 2016

I know this may not be exactly what you are envisioning but Another option that may work is to embroider on some ribbon the same colour and width as the elastic. you can then attach that by hand to the shorts. The embroidered name would not be distorted and would probably give you a good result without all the problems that embroidering on stretch can.
Good luck whatever you do and keep us informed. It is always good to know what works

1 comment
toogie by toogie 28 Apr 2016

I like this solution. I would just sew through the ends of the ribbon onto the elastic, using a narrow zig zag stitch. It would not really stretch in the area under the ribbon, but I'm sure he probably has enough stretch on the rest of the elastic to get on and off.

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getEdited - SELECT
by greysewist Moderator edited 28 Apr 2016

Welcome to Cute! I think this sounds like a very tricky proposition! Usually when embroidering on stretch fabric, one would use a non stretch stabiliser, which would prevent that area stretching and putting the design out of whack. It doesn't seem a good idea to create a non-stretching area on an elastic waistband. I don't suppose you have a picture of what it's meant to look like, for us to see? Best of luck with this project!

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by hightechgrammy 27 Apr 2016

Hi, Debrafay and Welcome to Cuties! I'm Jan from Colorado, and I love this group of caring and helpful ladies.
Is his name for Decoration on the outside or just for ID on the inside?
I have not done this, but for sure I would practice a few techniques before stitching on the shorts. You are going to need some kind of stabilizer and with this it will probably have to be on top over the elastic.

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