Hand Embroidered Frank Patches (Tutorial)

This tutorial was submitted by Chris Froehler.  I think his results are amazing and it's a very affordable way to make your Frank costume stand out!

Materials:
   Felt
   Patience
   A Pen
   Fusible Interfacing
   Regular Thread
   Sulky Holoshimmer Thread
   Patience
   An Embroidey Hoop
   Sewing Needles
   And Patience..

Begin by finding, or taking a picture of the patch you would like to reproduce.. I'll be making a Hell's Angels patch. You'll need to resize it, and create a mirror image of it to trace onto your iron on interfacing.  (Be sure to trace the image before applying the interfacing to the felt.)

After you have applied the interfacing, place the material in the embroidery hoop. Being sure to get all of the slack out of the material.

Now we come to the part some of you might find intimidating.. But don't! :) It's a lot easier than you might think. You'll want to begin working with the interfacing facing you, so you have the traced image to use as a reference. Start by passing the needle through the felt on one of the lines of your sketch, and bring it back through on another. It's as easy as working with a coloring book! Make several parallel passes keeping your stitches about 1/8" apart until you have the body of the image finished, and turn the hoop over. 
You should now have a rough image to use as a guide. 

Using the same technique, but now using your stitches, and a photo of the patch as a reference, begin to add stitches between the ones from the first pass.  Once that is done, repeat the process until you have finished working with that color thread and move onto the next one! 
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!  Be sure to find me on Facebook and share your projects with me. :)

Tips on working with the Sulky metallic, and Holoshimmer thread...

This "thread" is actually a very thin, ribbon-like strip of polyester film.  When threading a needle (I like to double up when using this thread) be sure to keep the film flat. If it gets twisted, it doesn't reflect the light very well. After passing the thread through the eye of the needle, hold the needle in one hand. With your thumb and fore-finger, pinch the thread and slide down the length to remove any twists and turns that might have occurred while drawing the thread off of the spool.. Tie the thread 2 or 3 times to make a knot large enough to prevent it from being pulled straight through the fabric. Pass the needle through the fabric. When you pass the needle back through, keep your finger or thumb under the stitch, so you can be sure the thread lays flat against the fabric for optimal reflection.