# An embroidery question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267 "2008-03-06T01:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/1 "2008-03-06T01:04:11Z")
From someone very secure in his manhood. šŸ˜‰ All silliness aside, back in the day we used to wear shirts, mostly chambray, with pictures and designs embroidered on the back, the cuffs, and the collar. Eagles, pot leaves, peace signs and like that. I still think they look pretty cool. So, Iā€™ve been looking for the iron-on patterns to put the designs on my shirts but having no luck at all. Plenty of place mats, pillow shams, and the like but no hippy designs. Iā€™m hoping someone out there in SDMB land can fight my ignorance and lead me to a site that offers such things. Peace and love mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/2 "2008-03-06T01:16:28Z")
I printed out a pattern on our ink-jet and took a shot at ironing that. It worked. Iā€™ve done it several times, now. I never did a very intricate pattern, they were all black, and Iā€™m not sure if it will work for everyoneā€™s ink-jet. But itā€™s worth a shot, right? You canā€™t get much cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/3 "2008-03-06T01:54:46Z")
Have you tried going to a head shop? They have all sorts of interesting accents there. If you donā€™t see any laying around, ask if perhaps they have a book of patches/iron ons for sale. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/4 "2008-03-06T02:03:55Z")
The hemp, surfer stuff and (shhh! headshop) store on Main in downtown Ventura (couple of doors down & across the street from the sexy underwear store, closer to the domestic violence thrift shop) had iron-on pot leaf patch-type thingies as well as other ā€œsubversiveā€ motifs. You might check your local head shop or kink store. Fabric & Craft shops usually have the best selection of personal decor, but I think JoAnns and Michaels caters more to Soccer grand-moms than hippies. Although the one in north west Vegas did have one flaming skull left when I went looking for Pansy patches last saturday, so they MIGHT be worth a trip, depending on your patience level. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/5 "2008-03-06T02:08:39Z")
Any iron-on pattern can be used on a shirtā€“just because it may say ā€œPillowcase Shamā€ on the package doesnā€™t mean it can only be used on a pillowcase sham. I used to do quite a bit of the embroidery youā€™re talking about, and I was always snipping little bits and pieces off transfers and ironing them into position to get just the effect I wanted, a daisy here, a vine there. Anyway, thereā€™s an article [here](http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/463401/make_your_own_iron_on_embroidery_designs.html) on making your own iron-on transfers with clipart. And another article [here.](http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/08/iron-on-transfers-embroidery.html) ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/6 "2008-03-06T02:15:41Z")
[QUOTE=Yllaria] I printed out a pattern on our ink-jet and took a shot at ironing that. It worked. Iā€™ve done it several times, now. I never did a very intricate pattern, they were all black, and Iā€™m not sure if it will work for everyoneā€™s ink-jet. But itā€™s worth a shot, right? You canā€™t get much cheaper. [/QUOTE] Thatā€™s a thought! Sorry for the douple post, but . . . Basic embroidery isnā€™t very hard. Skein of floss, needle, iron on design (most printer inks will transfer), a little time, and youā€™ve got your peace signs, doves & pot leaves. Can you thread a needle? Iā€™m suddenly looking forward to teaching you embroidery by email. I might even be motivated to search through my boxes of patterns & designs. (yes, Iā€™m bored. Unemployment sucks. Email me ā€“ username @gmail) ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/7 "2008-03-06T02:24:07Z")
Wow ā€“ youā€™re really taking me back. I did a pile of those shirts for friends of mine in the '70s. Sometimes Iā€™d use the Aunt Martha transfers from the craft store. There werenā€™t a lot of real hip ones of those, but they did have some pretty flower transfers. I did roses for one guy ā€“ yellow roses because he was from Texas ā€“ and probably used an Aunt Martha trandfer for that one. Also did one shirt with Indian designs ā€“ it has a thunderbird design on the back, I remember. That may have been an Aunt Martha, too. It was pretty intricate and must have been some sort other brand of professional transfer, if not Aunt Martha. And I did at least one shirt with an eagle ā€“ again, so intricate I must have used a transfer. For simpler designs (peace signs, zodiac symbols ā€“ I actually did a couple shirts with zodiac signs, if you can imagine) I just got a picture of whatever I was planning to use and had it copied on thin paper. Then flipped it over and traced the lines with a transfer pencil. then I could iron it right on the shirt just like a professional transfer and embroider over it like with all the rest. I used to ā€˜signā€™ them with my initials in teeny stitches on the left front yoke. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/8 "2008-03-06T03:04:29Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] From someone very secure in his manhood. šŸ˜‰ [/QUOTE] You could always buy one of [these](http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/us/428.htm) > [@](#): > > If you want to make something completely original - use your computer ā€“ to create your own designs and embroideries! Itā€™s one of the most fun and creative things you can do in the sewing world. The Husqvarna Viking Embroidery Software programs are easy to use on your computer, and give you unlimited opportunities to design, customize, edit and digitize embroidery designs. Iā€™m tempted. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/9 "2008-03-06T03:15:55Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] You could always buy one of [these](http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/us/428.htm) Iā€™m tempted. [/QUOTE] Secure in manhood? Sure. Secure in checkbook? Not so sure. But Iā€™ll be looking for something along those lines. But old. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/10 "2008-03-06T05:01:02Z")
They actually make printer paper that acts as an [iron-on transfer](http://www.provantage.com/epson-s041153~7EPSA00Q.htm), if youā€™re interested in doing your own on the computer. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-embroidery-question/440267/11 "2008-03-06T05:12:49Z")
You want hippie patches? I got yer [hippie patches right here!](http://www.hippieshop.com/cgi-bin/gold/category/16000) Or [this site](http://www.shinegallery.com/hippiepatches.html), which claims to have actual unworn vintage patches from the '60s and '70s. [Patches!](http://www.gypsyrose.com/patches.asp) [Patches!](http://sunshinedaydream.biz/store/category/81aa/Patches.html) [Even more patches!](http://www.butterflymama.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PAT) (Ooh, I want that tree of life one!)