It can be (Machine embroidery) as simple as selecting wonderful design, inserting the design card into the machine, hooping the fabric and pushing a button. But if one aims to manufacture good-looking garments with soft, flexible embroidery, there is much one should know.
Even the fabrics like silks and soft wools can be machine-embroidered. But manufacturing elegant embroidery, which is well matched with the fabric, doesn't wrinkle, or alter the fabric's drape, includes the relations of all the following essentials: a machine that's well-adjusted and placed at the suitable needle and bobbin tensions, a well-equipped and located design, the exact needle and thread for the job, and a sound knowledge of the fabric being embroidered therefore it's properly hooped and stabilized. The article will discuss these fundamentals, but the content will focus on how to select designs and fabrics that are suited with each other and tell what to do when they are not.
Good design and digitising need some excellent ingredients like production friendliness, proper pathing, proper underlay, a balance of stitch count and detail.
Production friendliness means designs must be visually pleasant; but it is more crucial that they must be sewn fast and proficiently. Customers have to understand this serious matter: by giving a little more money for good digitising, they save their money by reducing machine time.
Though, techniques of Proper Pathing are difficult to master, it is the foundation of effective designs. Proper pathing is complicated in terms of many concerned variables, including the type of fabric, the design's foreground and background. Proper underlay is unseen but it is a significant part of a design. Underlay helps perfect the look of design and it also enables you to loosen your high compactness that decreases total stitch count and helps designs run better. Proper digitising is the result of good placing of underlay concerning the top stitch. The break wall of underlay prevents the top stitching from sticking to the fabric or stitching bottom.
A balance of stitch count and detail helps digitising demonstrates detail without producing a mess of stitches. Manufacturers must not forget that the thread has a mass of 1 mm; therefore they should allow the viewer to fill in the design's space with his mind's eye. After all, designs are generally viewed from a certain distance.
Designs with high compactness are likely to become impenetrable and rough to the person wearing the garment. Manufacturers should reduce the densities with developing coats of embroidery. They must consider the suppleness of fabric when a manufactured sample does not please eyes of viewers.
The threads of coarsely woven fabrics can deflect the machine needle while stitching (left), producing uneven edges. The same design stitches out cleanly on a more smoothly woven fabric (right).
There are many other features connected with good digitising; these are clean lettering, efficient artwork modification, importance of push/pull issues, knowledge of stitch length and type, correct tie-ins and tie-outs, successful blending, a good perception of when to use or not use automatic software functions and other factors.
Compatible Design and Fabric
Fabric features, its proposed usages and the particulars of design form a winning combination of fabric and design. But there are some hurdles, which should be coped with. Manufacturers must take care if the design's stitch density would alter the hand of the fabric. If yes, this should not become a problem in your project. Then the effects of colour, weight and texture of fabric on design should be examined. If manufacturer is able to obtain good results by using backing and topping, simple change of thread colours might make the fabric and design work together. Modifying design to make it work or selecting design might prove an unwelcome option.
Stabilizing the fabric
When high-speed embroidery is concerned, knit is taken as unstable fabric. A cut-away stabilizer is the solution to design stability while the design is being embroidered and it stays behind the embroidery pattern all through the life of the garment.
..A fusible or non-fusible cut-away stabilizer in a weight harmonizes the fabric weight. Extremely heavy stabiliser makes the designs stiff; on the other hand a stabilizer, which is incredibly light will enhance the probability of the design cupping and wrinkling.
Different fabrics require different preparation. For Lycra knits, choose a design with a lot of open space. To hoop, stretch the knit as it's worn on the body (left). The design will appear puckered when the fabric is relaxed (top right) but will stretch over the body when worn (above right). Photos: Mary Ray.
.Various coatings of lightweight cut-away stabiliser are advised for heavyweight knit and grade the stabiliser layers after embroidering. This will stop extra volume behind the design and next to the body.
.Used with knits, a tear-away stabiliser may draw back from the design during embroidery, creating design deformation and mismatched figures.
.Combine knit tricot bordering to the fabric incorrect side under the embroidery region so that fabric stretch can be stabilised before hooping. Knit tricot interfacing has the same cross-grained stretch as the fashion knit, so combine the interfacing stretch perpendicular to the knit fabric stretch. Remember that cut-away stabilizer is still essential even though interfacing is used to hold the fabric.
.To prevent misaligned outlines, forward through the design and stitch the outline first to secure all the layers together, using a thread colour that goes with the fabric. Then embroider the design from the beginning, re-stitching the outline in sequence
Backing and Topping are Fabric stabilizers
Backing
Backing, as the name denotes, gives support and structure placed under the item or fabric being embroidered; it is a woven or non-woven material. Backings are available in various density and patterns.
Use of Backing
Backing is used to support the item being embroidered; it handles the stitches being applied to the fabric or item being sewn. Backing gives an additional support to prevent distortion of the design being sewn. Manufacturers are always in dilemma which backing they should apply to improve the quality of products. The most important rule for embroidery is to stabilise the fabric. Manufacturers use backing to stabilise the design sewn on the garment. Stabiliser works as the foundation of design and everyone knows that any project or work will come out wrong without having a good foundation. The same principle is applicable to embroidery also. If a builder wants to erect a skyscraper, he has to make the foundation strong. The requirement of backing is in proportion to the number of stitches of design. If the backing is lightweight, four layers are more than enough. Some common sense might be useful at this moment. Multiple layers of backing are better than one layer of heavier backing.
Topping
Toppers keep the stitches above the surface. There are various kinds of toppings like water-soluble, coloured vinyl or matching organza. Put the topper over the design region and use the machines' fix/baste function to support it in place during embroidery. Toppers can be taken off by carefully cutting or eliminating according to the directives of the manufacturers. Organza topper can be taken off by holding it tight above the design and cut close to the design edge using sharp, curved scissors. The organza cut edge will vanish back into the fabric, but will stay under the design for firmness.
Designs
Light and airy designs are perfect for knit fabrics. Even after selecting the ideal stabilizer, the knits might be curled, cupped or distorted by solid, dense designs.
Designs must be selected according to the weight of knit. Simple, less dense or outline designs are advisable for lightweight knits. If a thick design is embroidered on a lightweight knit, the fabric that hems in design will be overburdened. A design with more detailing but not excessively dense works best for sweatshirting and other heavyweight knits.
Floating appliqu�s responds well to machine embroidery designs, which are preprogrammed. Manufacturers must consider how the designs stitch out prior to selecting designs. The stitches must hold themselves even after the stabilizer is detached, hence the design should start with running stitches and then have satin stitches added to support the design. All the stitched areas must connect to retain the design shape.
Occasionally, the stitches in a design appear to be totally connected, but when the stabilizer is removed, the embroidery falls apart. If in doubt about the design's stability, sandwich a layer of sheer fabric, such as organdy, organza or tulle, with the water-soluble stabilizer prior to stitching. After the stabilizer is removed, carefully trim away any fabric outside the design area
The same procedure can be used if the appliqu� has open areas in the design. To ensure the sheer fabric in the appliqu� won't show, select a colour close to the garment it will be placed on.
Puckering
If your design is 4" square, use the size hoop closest to the size of the design. Fabric can be distorted by extra large hoop used during the embroidery procedure. Puckering appears on the design when the fabric is unhooped. Fabric must be hooped tightly not rigidly. Too taut of fabric could result in the stretching of the fabric and will cause the same result - puckering of the fabric around the design. Adjusting the size of the hoop before the last hooping is also significant. First, set the screw on your hoop just about where you think it should be for the layers of stabilizer and fabric. Then, try to hoop your fabric - continue hooping and unhooping until you have the perfect tension. Never adjust the screw on the hoop after hooping your fabric with the stabilizer. This action will cause the fabric to shift in the hoop and ultimately cause puckering of the fabric around designs.
Distortion
Achievement of desired results is relied on proper selection and use of stabilizer. Design will create distortion in the fabric on which the design is being stitched out. If the distortion is not reduced, it can cause misalignments of the design outline as well as other features. If misaligned features or gaps in between fills create troubles, the problem is most likely a result of improper choice and use of stabilizer or poor hooping method.
Applying perfect stabilizer can minimize fabric distortion that occurs as the design is being stitched out. The quality of the finished work is much affected by both the type of stabilizer used and technique used to attach the fabric to the stabilizer. The distortion of design depends on the density of stabilizer; it is also significant to take in that there is a strong relationship between connection of fabric to the stabilizer and tendency of its movement while the design is being stitched out. All of designs incorporate underlay stitching which facilitates the fabric to get linked with the underlying stabilizer. Using either adhesive sprays or stabilizers such as Wet N Set, which include some form of adhesive, can often further improve this union between the fabric and stabilizer.
Fabric Coverage
Poor coverage is the result of loose stitches and one can see through the embroidery stitching. Other things like colour or texture, thread selection, enlarging the design, or even personal preference cause poor fabric coverage. This poor result can be corrected by digitizing with proper stitch choice, with more stitches and underlay stitches and with the help of suitable backing and topping. A topping like Coverup can be used to prevent poor coverage. The proper colour has the ability to cancel the influences of coloured or printed fabrics and can control the pile of fabric quickly.
Designs, which are enlarged on some embroidery system lengthens the stitches and extends the spacing between them. Such designs do not protect fabric as well as their unscaled corresponding parts. Put gold lam� as topping if the customizing software lengthens the stitches and widens the rows. The spaces generated from elongating the stitches will have the sparkling lam� peeping through, and you may even generate a more remarkable effect than the first design. Fabric coverage is also influenced by personal choice. Expectation of total coverage of fabric, not considering thread-colour selections gives birth to inflexible embroidery, which expert embroiderers and digitizers consider to be of poor quality - and which will probably cause other troubles like puckering, thread breaks or even fabric damage.
Misalignment
Tearaway backing with a design, which has ample fill regions, can cause inferior registration like gapping or misaligned outlines. These designs can crash a tearaway and weaken the stability before the figure has been totally sewn. To solve this problem, use only a cutaway backing or stuck with embroidery spray paste.
Poor registration can be resulted from excessively stiff tensions also. Such situation makes you loosen your bobbin and upper thread tensions to put it right. Roughly woven fabric threads may create what might come out to be inferior registration. By deflecting the needle to one side of the fabric threads, the fabric fibres can create bumpy edges. Stable and smooth-finish fabric is ideal for clean-edged effects.
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