Add a splash of color and charm to your outdoor decor with an embroidered windsock. It's a wonderful addition to a porch, patio, or deck, and also brings an extra dash of personality to gardens and gateways.
We used red, white, and blue ripstop nylon for an Independence Day-themed decoration. Model your windsock after this one, or choose your favorite colors to represent other holidays, events, and occasions.
Ripstop nylon is sturdy to last through many types of weather. Machine wash in cold water and line dry, if needed. Read on for free project instructions!
Supplies & Materials:
- 23 1/2 x 14 inches blue nylon fabric
- 3/4 yard white nylon fabric
- 3/4 yard red nylon fabric
- 2 yards nylon cord
- One 7 inch craft ring (metal or plastic)
- Masking tape
- Tear-away stabilizer (or cutaway, depending on design choice)
- Temporary spray adhesive
- Grommets and grommet tool (3/8 inch grommets used here)
- Needle and thread for hand sewing
The designs used in this tutorial include:
Cut the blue nylon fabric for the top of the windsock to be 23 1/2 x 14 inches.
Arrange the designs that you're going to embroider onto the windsock. Use embroidery software to create a template of the designs and arrange them on the nylon.
We're embroidering two six inch square designs on the windsock. Each design is positioned with the design's center point 6 1/2 inches from an end of the fabric. Each design's center is 7 inches from the top and bottom of the fabric.
For marking and hooping purposes, lay strips of masking tape on the fabric to form horizontal and vertical axis lines.
Lift up the template and place the tape underneath, and then lay the template back in place.
Poke a hole in the center of the design and mark the center point on the tape. Mark the horizontal and vertical axis lines from the template, too.
Remove the templates and draw lines connecting the marks on the tape. These lines will be used for hooping.
Repeat for the second design.
Lightly spray the fabric with temporary adhesive. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together aligning the lines on the hoop with the lines on the tape.
A note about stabilizer: Usually when embroidering on ripstop nylon we use cutaway stabilizer. Nylon is prone to pucker, and we've found that cutaway stabilizer is the best guard against puckering.
However, there are some exceptions to the "cutaway rule." When using light designs, such as toile, Redwork, or applique, tear-away stabilizer oftentimes does as good a job as cutaway stabilizer. We're using applique designs on the windsock, hence our use of tear-away; however, if you're using filled designs, cutaway will be the best choice.
If using tear-away stabilizer, choose a good quality one, and use a sharp sewing needle. A sharp sewing needle will perforate the tear-away stabilizer with a finer/smaller point than an embroidery needle, or other needle with a rounded tip. That will ensure that the tear-away stabilizer won't "tear away" during the embroidery. If you see "shifting" (that's where the design isn't lining up where it should), switch to cutaway stabilizer.
Open the applique design files to find two files. One file is a dieline, and the file name begins with the letter "DL." This dieline file is used to cut the fabric to the exact shape for the applique.
The other file is the full embroidery file, which begins with the number "25".
Open the dieline file in your embroidery software and print it. Place the printout on top of the fabric and trim around the shape.
Attach the hoop to the machine and load the embroidery design (the design that starts with the numbers 25).
Align the needle directly over the center point on the fabric, and embroider the design.Â
The first thing to sew will be another dieline. This traces the area where you'll place the cut fabric. After the dieline has finished sewing, spray the backside of the applique fabric with temporary spray adhesive and press into place.
Continue sewing the design.
Once that design has finished embroidering, proceed with the other design(s) for your windsock.
Once the designs are done being embroidered, carefully tear away the excess stabilizer.
Cut four strips of red nylon, and four strips of white nylon. The size of each strip should be 4 3/4 wide x 21 1/2 inches tall. The strips will be the streamers that hang off the bottom.
Finish the streamers by folding the long sides in 1/2 inch and pressing down with your fingers. Fold in again and press. Sew a seam along the folded edge on both long sides.
Fold one end in 1/2 inch and fold again another 1/2 inch. Sew a seam along the inner folded edge. Leave one end of the streamer unfinished.
Lay the upper section embroidered right side up. Lay the streamers wrong side up and pin the unfinished edge at the bottom of the upper section. Pin the streamers 3/4 inch in from the side of the upper section.Â
Sew a 1/2 inch seam along the top red of the streamers.
Lay the sock right side up and press the seam flat.
Sew a 1/2 inch seam along the bottom edge of the upper section.
Fold the top of the upper section over and sew a 1/2 inch seam along the unfinished edge.
Align the two sides of the upper section, right sides together. Pin in place and sew a 1/2 inch along the pinned edge.
Turn the sock right side out and insert craft ring at the top of the upper section. Fold the top edge over the craft ring and hand sew a whipstitch to hold the ring in place.
Add three grommets to the top of the windsock about 1 inch from the top edge. Mark three evenly-spaced points for the grommets to be placed.
Cut a small hole at each mark with a craft knife or scissors. Add the grommets with a hand-held grommet tool or with a hammer and punch (usually included in a grommet package).
Thread the nylon cord and tie a knot on the inside to prevent the thread from slipping through. Cut a length the length of the cord to about 10 inches. Repeat for the second grommet hole.
Repeat on the third grommet hole, but do not cut the cord. Tie the first and second cords around the third cord.
Easy, breezy for your outdoor space!
