It’s no lie. Pimp’s don’t cry. Will Ferrell backs that one up in The Other Guys.
I’ve never seen the movie, and sadly hadn’t heard the phrase either, until my friend Rafael brought it up last fall. The conversation went something like this:
Rafa: Hey Estie, wouldn’t it be awesome to have one of those giant embroidery hoops with Pimps Don’t Cry on it?
Me: ooh! hmm…(and that’s when the wheels in my head started turning)
I got really excited about making this embroidered hoop because it was an unusual phrase, it was for a dude, and this dude is crazy about Nikes. So it was only fitting to use a pair of dunks as inspiration for the hoop. Can’t remember the last time I had to buy neon thread for something!
This hoop was made pretty much like the MattieHeartMoonie one I made in July. I started off by laying out the type on the computer, then printing it to paper. I ended up having to tape two printed sheets of paper together to fit my 18-inch hoop.
I used carbon paper to trace the letters, making sure to press down really hard with my ball point pen.
Then it was time to embroider. I outlined all the letters using the chain stitch, then filled in the word Don’t. I decided to leave Pimps and Cry just in the chain stitch, figuring that the neon thread would help it stand out on the fabric.
Once I was done with the stitching, I painted the hoop neon orange. Then I ironed interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric to hide the loose threads. Lastly, I secured the fabric to the hoop, using a glue gun to glue the fabric ends to the underside of the hoop.
Overall, it took me a month and a half to finish Pimps Don’t Cry. It was originally intended to be Rafa’s birthday present, but ended up being a month late. Through this project, I learned that I should’ve used embroidery thread instead of sewing thread. It would’ve made the whole process go a lot faster.
Pimps Don’t Cry has shown me that it’s fun to put a spin on the traditional. Thanks to Rafa (and Nat) for the inspiration for this project. And, Happy belated birthday, Rafa!
