Embroidery Basics Articles

10/28/2016 Thick and Thin: So Many Fabrics...So Many ays W Embroidery Article
Military precision! That’s the term that comes to mind when I think about hooping. Sloppy hooping presents more problems in
embroidery than any other oversight, in my opinion.
When a garment is properly hooped, the tension of the fabric will present a firm structure on which to place the design. In the case
of knits, this must be done without stretching the fabric at all.
Achieving an even tension in the hoop is easy enough. Just place the bottom portion of the hoop on the inside of the garment,
centering it where the embroidery is going to be placed. The backing of choice should be between the hoop and the garment. On
the outside of the garment, insert the top portion of the hoop. This placement is easy if you have a hooping aid. If not, the eye works
well, too. Once the hoop is in place, a gentle tug on the fabric outside the hoop will increase the tension of the fabric. It is at this
point that one must be careful not to pull the knits too much! When the hooping is complete, check to make sure that the lines
created by the weave, commonly called the grain of the fabric, are straight in both directions, vertically and horizontally .
Backing and Topping
There are many backings available and experienced embroiderers will easily tell you about their favorites. They are divided into two
categories, cutaway and tearaway . Our backing of choice is most often a medium cutaway . Cutaway backings provide more stability
than tearaway, simply because they do not pull apart in the embroidery process. T earaway backings weaken, especially around the
edges of the design, with each needle penetration. The nice part of using a tearaway , though, is that removal is easy and the inside
of the garment looks nicer and is more comfortable against the skin when there is no unsightly backing left around the edges of a
design.
Because of the properties of the dif ferent types of fabrics in our order , we will choose dif ferent types of backing. Medium tearaway
backings will be suf ficient for the stable fabrics in the twill coats, the bags, and the caps. The CD cases would present a dif ferent
problem in that they cannot be hooped with ordinary methods. They could either be embroidered with a specialty frame or by
placing them on sticky backing using a standard frame.
Knit fabrics need a stronger foundation to prevent movement during the embroidery . In general, a good rule to follow is that the less
stable a fabric is, the more stable the backing must be. The fear when embroidering polo shirts or lightweight T ­shirts is that the
backing will show through the garment. Another concern is that, in most cases, the embroidery will lie against the skin when the
garment is worn, and very heavy backings are often uncomfortable. Mesh backings are great when the embroiderer needs the
stability of a cutaway backing, but is also concerned that the backing will show through the garment. The mesh is translucent, and
is lightweight, allowing for better draping of the garment than traditional heavier backings.
There are many choices and it takes a bit of research and experimenting to find what works best for you.
Finishing
When my mom was teaching me to sew as a young child, she would always tell me that the inside of the garment should look as
good as the outside. I also remember , when entering the 4­H competitions at the local county fairs, the agonizing moments when
the judge would turn that garment inside out and inspect the stitches of every seam, making sure that the construction techniques
were done correctly, that the stitches were even, that the upper and lower tension of the machine were set correctly and that all
ends of the thread were clipped.
This is the same care that should be taken in the finishing of a garment that comes of f the embroidery machine. Backing should be
removed. With tearaway, that is simple. It is usually already cut away by the stitches, and a little tug will remove the excess from the
edges of the design. Cutaway requires more care in that you need to cut close to the design without actually clipping any of the
stitches. As for the rest of the design, the machines should have been properly set before embroidery , but clipping any unsightly
threads will also make the design picture perfect.
…And isn’t that what we are trying to achieve? Picture perfect embroidery on every piece!
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