Halloween is a fun time of year, and while you may want to get into the spirit of the holiday, you may not want to go full costume. And where little children are concerned, sometimes less is more. For example, avoiding bits that can break off and become a choking hazard.
So, here is a quick little project to bring a little bit of spooky to your top, as though you've been walking through the spiderwebs.
For this project, I was thinking subtle, with a little bit of sparkle, just like the real thing, so I started off with DMC Light Effects Colour E5200 for the supporting threads of the spiderweb. This thread is stiffer than normal stranded floss, so only one strand was required for the appropriate thickness.
Then, to make up the webbing, Madeira Metallic thread No. 40 Silver. Again, just a single thread.
The design was traced onto a piece of water soluble stabiliser which was pinned to the top. Placement guides for the neckline and the centre of the top put the design toward one shoulder.
Wanting something quick and subtle, I decided to simply use running stitch to complete the design, trying to keep my stitches on the right side of the fabric a fraction longer than those on the back of the fabric. With the stitching complete, the stabiliser was washed away, and the design revealed against the light grey of the shirt. Subtle?
Sadly, once it was completed, it was a little too subtle. The photo doesn't demonstrate just how subtle the design was with just the Light Effects and Metallic threads. From across a small room, you could barely tell that there was anything on the shirt.
My solution was to go back over the design with another thread. This time, I used a dark grey machine thread, and as I sewed through the fabric, I tried to keep my stitches as close to the original ones as possible.
The finished web is much more visible, but still not overdone, so I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
As a finishing touch, I added a little purple and green spider hanging from the main web. This was completed in Madeira Glamour 8, which is a sparkly thread designed for use with sergers and overlockers, or in hand sewing and crochet. In this case, I separated the thread into its individual strands, then recombined two to give me the colour, but with a finer stitching line than the thread off the spool would give me.
Threads:
Madeira Metallic thread No. 40 Silver - A$8.75
DMC Light Effects Colour E5200 - A$2.75
Madeira Glamour 8 (No thread number) - A$8.95
This was quite a fast little project, and it would have taken half the time if I'd stitched with both threads at the same time.
Being in running stitch makes the project beginner friendly, and using the water soluble stabiliser helps keep the fabric from stretching while you sew, but is not essential. You could draw the design directly onto a shirt with a water-disappearing or air-disappearing pen if you liked.
Watch the Halloween special project Charlotte on YouTube.
See our video tutorial on Running stitch on YouTube.
Have a look at our pictorial tutorial on Running stitch here.
