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Embroidery Designs Sewing
Denim is a twill weave and runs diagonally and any diagonal
weave is difficult to control, whether you are attempting
construction sewing or machine embroidery. Twills are designed to
give the wearer ultimate wearing comfort by the natural "give" it
has. That's why we all love our chinos & jeans! However, this
comfort quality presents a real problem for machine embroidery
enthusiasts.
It is essential to keep fabric "blocked" while cutting,
assembling, and stitching either regular seaming or machine
embroidery. From cutting out pattern pieces to hooping denim for
embroidery, you will experience a challenge of keeping the fabric
"blocked" squarely. If you're a quilter, you know exactly what
blocking is. If you're not a quilter it simply means keeping the
grain of the weave, in both cross & straight directions,
straight or square.
Denim is difficult to block because of the diagonal weave and,
generally, denim is a heavier weight than most other fabrics are.
I recently stitched an ankle length, heavy, denim duster coat
using a very large design down the front edge of the coat
opening, near the hemline. This meant I had to keep the design
running straight in 2 directions at once. The outcome could have
been quite unsightly if I hadn't taken extra precautions to make
sure the design was placed squarely and that the stabilizing was
adequate to prevent the puckers and warping that result from the
pull of a machine embroidery design while it is stitching.
Since I had chosen a rather dense assortment of designs to
combine for a scene, I knew that I had a difficult, but not
impossible, task. First I had to determine what would keep the
twill from becoming distorted during the stitching. Second, I
knew it would be next to impossible to hoop the coat - the denim
was as heavy as any work jeans I've seen.
I immediately knew that I wouldn't be able to hoop the coat,
therefore it was a matter of first stabilizing the denim then
finding a way to create a method of hooping a backing that would
hold up under a high stitch count design and remove easily when
the stitching was completed. Given the factors I couldn't change
- the weight of the fabric & the heaviness of the group of
designs - I wanted to use a "formula" of layers which wouldn't
create a stiff effect when all was done. The front edge of a coat
does flip open - this could be considered a lethal weapon if one
is not careful!
~ DESIGN PLACEMENT ~
The first problem to overcome - can you imagine the bulk of
all this fabric when attaching the hoop to the machine! Since the
bulk of the fabric must be to the left of the machine so as not
to constrict the movement of the embroidery "arm" and hoop, the
design had to stitched upside down! To accomplish this you simply
flip the design/s first vertically then horizontally.
Using a printed image of the design and the plastic grid for
the hoop, I decided exactly where I wanted to place the design.
(Always stand about 3 feet away from the garment to make sure the
design is where you want it! It's usually best to try it on &
look in the mirror.) Since this was for my daughter I had to wing
it!
~ PREPARING THE FABRIC OR GARMENT ~
I laundered the coat to shrink it to prevent any warping or
puckering which would have happened after it was laundered the
first time. Next I steam pressed the front of the jacket to its
original flat state by applying Magic Sizing and heavy steam. Now
the key here is the word press - not iron! If you iron (move the
iron in any direction while bearing down) denim will be stretched
and distorted.
After allowing the coat to dry completely after this process,
and making sure of the design placement previously decided, I
then applied the fusible medium tear away backing to the back
side, using a dry iron set at the polyester setting, making sure
that the backing straight grain was running with the coat cross
grain. Again - press the backing not iron it. To avoid an armor
look, I chose the soft tear away backing as the second layer
which was placed straight grain to straight grain. A light
spraying of 505 temporary adhesive was applied to keep it from
shifting.
~ STABILIZING ~
My choice for the "hooping" backing was wonder solv - a water
soluble, fabric-like stabilizer, which will support any number of
stitches. I hooped a piece in my Brother jumbo hoop, which has a
5 X 12 inch stitch area. I then sprayed the wonder solv with a
heavy coat of 505 spray.
I set the jumbo hoop on my Hoop Mate to insure that I could
get the front edge of the coat straight with the curved edge of
the hoop. Then, making sure that the hem edge was kept straight
as well, I pressed the entire backed portion of the coat to the
hooped wonder solv. I placed the plastic grid template over the
"hooped" fabric to double-check the placement Whew - the worst
part of the project was accomplished!
~ FINALLY! READY TO STITCH ~
After locking the hoop to the embroidery arm, I placed a sheet
of web solvy on top to prevent the stitches from sinking into the
denim. The first thing I stitched was the basting outlines in all
three areas of the jumbo hoop. It takes a bit of time, but is
well worth the effort. This secures the fabric/garment to the
hooped backing helping to insure the least amount of movement
during the actual design stitching.
I proceeded by stitching the top design first, then the bottom
design and finally the center design. By moving around the hoop
in this fashion you are preventing excessive pull in any one
area, which can cause distortion of the fabric and unsightly
puckering.
~ FINAL RESULTS ~
I'm happy to report that the entire scene was straight/square
with the front and hemline edge of the coat, there were no
puckers, no warping and no "off " outlines! The coat was no
stiffer after the designs were applied than it was originally. My
daughter now proudly wears a lighthouse to ocean-floor scene on
the lower edge of this spring / fall weight coat!
Terry Carter is the webmaster and author of embroidery
articles at embroidery designs by Thread
Artist. He has an article about embroidery software for
digitizing and lettering fonts at embroidery
software. There is a free embroidery digitizing Tutorial at
this web address - embroidery
by Thread Artists. You can email Terry at this address -
[email protected]
 MORE RESOURCES updated Sat. September / 14 / 2024
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