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    Testing the trapunto technique

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 5,040 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    Trapunto embroidery technique, which produces an embossed effect, caught my attention long ago. Of course, I don't mean the traditional trapunto, but its machine embroidery counterpart. There are numerous materials on the subject; I've studied them, as I usually do, and came to the conclusion that doing something like that was within my powers. Therefore, several days ago I decided to bring a small project to life. 
    The most encouraging thing for me were the numerous affirmations that for imitating the trapunto technique any simple redwork design will do. 
    So I chose an image, which seemed interesting for my purpose. I created a design (7421 stitches), expecting for the batting to produce a raised surface in places with no filling. 

    Then I proceeded with my project according to the instruction I've found on the internet. 
    I chose ordinary calico for the right side, a piece of polyester batting 0,5 cm thick (not the one used for quilting, I don't have any, as don't yet have the compelling reason to buy it) and a tearaway stabilizer. 
    I hooped the following 'sandwich': a stabilizer, 2 layers of polyester batting, and calico: 

    I started the embroidery and the first thing I stitched was the outline, according to which I will then cut the batting on the wrong side. I chose the threads that contrasted the background, in order to see everything well. 

    Then I took the hoop off the machine and, having overturned it, began to cut the batting as close to the stitching as possible: 

    Having trimmed all the extra pieces I sprayed another layer of batting with a temporary spray adhesive and secured it on the wrong side of the hoop. 

    Then I inserted this hoop together with the batting into the machine and put a piece of stabilizer under it. 

    Then I embroidered the rest of the design: 

    The result turned out to be disappointing: 
    The upper thread was all in loops and the tension was difficult to adjust with such a thick basis (fabric+polyester batting+stabilizer).  The design had shifted because of the insufficient stabilization.  There was no puffiness.  I had a sneaking suspicion that the chosen batting was a bit unsuitable for a design of this kind, which involved using the ordinary fabric, too. To be more precise it was entirely unsuitable. Plus, the design should be digitized in the other way. 
    After that, I decided to read some more on the subject. Therefore, my second attempt to seize the trapunto fortress began with: 
    Making the design simpler  Checking if the type of the fabric was suitable for my purpose in case I didn't have a proper quilting batting.  This time, I decided to make a simple design with a number of motif fills around the assumed puffy areas (the stitch count here is higher than in the previous design, i.e. 13365). 

    First, I decided to test this design on the same fabric, i.e. calico. 
    I hooped my 'sandwich': stabilizer, 1 layer of batting polyester (the same as the last time), and calico. 

    Embroidered the design: 

    Trimmed the stabilizer on the wrong side. 

    The petals became a bit raised, but not sufficiently so: 

    At that point, I decided to check if my suspicions about my batting being unsuitable for this type of fabric were true and to embroider the same design on knitwear with other components — namely, the stabilizer, 1 layer of polyester batting (the same as the last time), knitwear — remaining the same. 

    During the embroidery I begin to see the long-desired puffiness — the surface of the petals became raised: 

    This is how the ready embroidery looks when still in the hoop: 

    And this is the look from the side — the puffiness in petals has been achieved: 

    Hence the conclusion: all ordinary fabrics require special batting, as for the knitwear and other stretchy textiles any one would do. 
    You should choose the design with care. Judging by the machine embroidery design collections in the Western shops, they prefer simple designs for this particular technique. I think, there is a grain of truth in it. 
    But it is not always possible, and you have to experiment. But it is even intriguing. 

    Splitting machine embroidery design file for rehooping

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 6,436 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    I've already mentioned that sooner or later you come across ready embroidery design files that need correction. For example, splitting it into pieces (which will be hooped separately) if the design is too large for the hoop. Today I want to tell how one can do it. I will split the design in the machine embroidery editor called Stitch Era Universal — read my blog to learn of its capabilities. 
    I have a file in *.dst format, where everything marked red is to be embroidered without trims, and everything marked green — with 2 trims only: 

    Let's pretend I don't have a hoop big enough to embroider this design all in one go. Indeed, I have a hoop slightly smaller than this particular design. In order to understand, which part goes where, I need to draw the rectangles in the editor — they will indicate my hoop. 

    You can see two rectangles on the photo below. The green rectangle is for the main part of the design, and the blue one — for the remaining one, in which I plan to put two branches, the upper one and the one on the right: 
    Now I need to take out those branches that are crossed by the green line (encircled in red on the photo). And instead of 1 file I need to create 2: for the item will be rehooped twice: 

    You can easily do that in the stitch editor. In order to do this, I need to find the starting point of the embroidery and single it out: I picked the first stitch of the right branch (marked with black arrow): 

    Here I will insert an automatic trim. 
    To do this I select Insert / Insert Trim in the Commands bar: 

    Then I go to the other end of the same branch and mark the end point of the embroidery. Here I also insert an automatic trim. Now my branch is a separate segment of the embroidery and I can change its color as I wish: 

    After that I repeat my actions with the second branch and insert an automatic trim in the beginning: 

    Then I go the last stitch of the branch and insert an automatic trim there, too. Now I can change color of the second branch: 

    This is how it looks after my manipulations: 

    All that is now left is to put bar tacks at the ends of separated segments (I'll need to draw them by hand) and also create the alignment stitches in order to match the two parts of the design. 
    So I draw a brace on the upper branch with an ordinary running stitch (marked black): 

    And on the right branch I draw the curve (also marked black): 

    All that I have left is to make a copy of this file and remove everything that does not concern hooping from both of them. Therefore, the first and the larger file of two will look like this: 

    And the second — like this: 

    Be sure to change the embroidery sequence in the second file: the alignment stitches should be embroidered first, and the rest should follow 
    Files are now ready. You can do the stitching. How to align parts of the big design, read here and here. 
    Of course, not all the designs can be split that easily. The design I had chosen was not the most complex one. In any case, the action sequence will be just about the same. 


    Embroidery on faux leather according to the theory of Visual Thinking

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 7,445 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    Today I've suddenly got an interesting idea — that everything in machine embroidery, as well as in our whole life, can be done according to Dan Roam's technique, suggested in his book The Back of The Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. It has four simple steps: Look, See, Imagine, Show. 

    First, we observe ("Look"), then we assess the situation ("See"): who/what, how many, where, when, how and why. After that we, using our ability of abstract thinking, try to envisage something that does not yet exist ("Imagine"). That is, we make the embroidery settings according to our knowledge and experience. And only then, having imagined the whole thing, we go to the machine to make sure to ourselves and to the others that our ideas were right ("Show"). From this moment, we start all over again: look, evaluate and so on down the line. We've now come the full circle. 
    The steps of the embroidery process are exactly the same (at least in my case). For example, today I found a piece of faux leather and decided to figure out at last how the embroidery process will differ from the one for woven textiles. So I conceived an idea of embroidering a BMW logo. 
    First, I decided to see what qualities this particular piece of faux leather possessed. Despite the fact that faux leather has a soft textile underlay, it turned out to be extremely stretchy. And besides, it is a very delicate material. One the other hand, it does not crease. 
    From this moment, I begin to size up the situation and make first decisions according to what I have seen and if there are materials available for embroidery on it. I understood right away that the faux leather has to be stuck onto stabilizer or the embroidery will pucker and look bad. As I don't have any filmoplast, I instantly thought of using a temporary spray adhesive. And because this material is crease resistant, it can be hooped, which is generally good for the embroidery. What is also good is that faux leather is thin, and, therefore, I won't need to use thicker needles. Moreover, I won't change them at all — I use #70 with a SES needlepoint. 
    Now "Imagine" step — I created the first version of the design relying on my limited knowledge of embroidery on faux leather and similar materials, about which I've written some time ago. Here is the preview: 

    I set the following parameters: lowered the density of satin columns by 20-25% (depending on their stitch length), and also lowered the fill density by 30%. I also increased fill stitch and underlay stitch lengths to 4.5 mm. And put double zigzag with the density of 1.2-2 mm as a foundation for wide satin columns (the outer ring with inscription), and lattice at 90° angle under the fills. I also moved the underlay 1 mm away from the finishing satin stitch layer. Thin satin columns went without the underlay. 
    Then I got to the "Show" part — embroidered what I have visualized. 
    I hooped the piece of faux layer with 2 layers of tearaway stabilizer. Prior to this I glued them together with a temporary spray adhesive:
     
    Embroidered the design: 

    Now back to the "Look" step to see the result. We've once again come the full circle. 
    While the faux leather was in the hoop, everything looked rather good. At least, the embroidery didn't perforate the fabric along the perimeter. This is an achievement — it means that these density settings are suitable for this type of fabric, as are the needles. But when I unhooped the embroidery, I immediately realized that it was pulled and wavy: 

    Hoop burn was also present, but it was not too apparent and disappeared in about 15 minutes. 

    From what I have seen during the embroidery I came to the conclusion that the waviness was present only on the outer ring, therefore, according to the theory, the density value was too high. There is nothing wrong with the density of satins columns, but it is obviously too high for the underlay. The reason is not insufficient stabilizing, but the stitch count itself. It would be better to make the underlay less substantial. And change the look of the fill, because it turned out to be no good. Besides this, making some corrections to the letters and the logo outline would do no harm. 
    So I made all necessary changes: 

    I increased the density of underlay under white parts of the design so that they were less transparent. Then I increased the thickness of the white outline and put the edge run under it — so that it did not sag down. I changed the filling under the letters in the satin stitch ring, and also made the completely another underlay for it — of the same round shape: 

    After that I rehooped the logo and embroidered it once again: 

    Here it is, already out of the hoop: 

    Of course, this sample, too, has its disadvantages. But it is much better than the first one. 
    Two logos beside each other: 

    This is how you may connect machine embroidery to Dan Roam's technique, with looking, seeing, imagining and showing are closely linked.
    How can it therefore be split between different people? 
    And how do you act when creating machine embroidery designs? 

    Hardware or software: which one is working wrong?

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 2,906 views
    It is always very good to hold someone or something responsible for your own troubles. For example, an embroiderer may say that he or she achieved a low quality result because of incorrect digitizing, and a digitizer, in his turn, may blame the embroiderer. In my opinion, in cases like it is only reasonable to share responsibility and figure out what happened and why. At times, however, it is not so easy. 

    I will start with the problem I've already referred to — thread breakage. In addition to what has been written before, I want to say that if thread breakage occurs all the time, and in all parts of the design, the machine is most likely responsible. But if thread breaks at one particular point, this is a sure sign of a digitizing mistake. 
    If you suspect the design to be the cause, but it is not possible to edit it quickly, you may verify your suspicions in the following way: load the design into the machine once again, increase its size by 3-5% right there on the screen, and try to embroider again. If thread breakage decreases, you'll have to change the design. I got this advice from Stephen Batts. And I think that his opinion is worth considering. 
    In order to find who's responsible for the unintentional gaps between the objects and in case you don't know whether the file is correct, rotate it at 90° and embroider again under the same conditions (positioning, stabilizers, needles, threads etc.). If the gap is still present, it is a digitizing mistake. One should not forget the importance of a rightly chosen stabilizer and correct hooping, which also may be the reasons for presence or absence of this defect. 
    If the outline does not land where it should, and its look varies on different samples, the insufficient stabilization may be the probable cause. In order to check if this is true, you can use a rather well-know technique — put a piece of stabilizer right under the hoop and see if that helps. 
    For example, in these days I often see how a straight stitch border unalterably encroaches on the design from the right and above, and unalterably makes a gap on the left and the bottom sides. Stabilizer are can't help this problem. This only means that it's time for me to check the tension of the driver belts on my embroidery machine. 
    I've also seen the following machine defect: I digitized and embroidered a simple rectangular satin stitch border 5 or 6 mm wide. The resulting square inevitably looked awful: horizontal sides were of normal width, whereas the vertical ones turned out to be 1-1.5 mm wider than planned. If I'm not mistaken, Pantograf was the reason. In order to correct this visual defect I had to artificially distort satin columns in the editor, make them wider so that the border looked the way it should. 
    As a matter of fact, if you have doubts both in the hardware and software, you should always have a test design at hand of which you are sure. Thus whenever you have any doubts, you may embroider it and everything will become clear. A so-to-speak express-method for finding the cause of the trouble. 
    Original text by: Marina Belova 

    How to position the embroidery design on the item

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 3 comments, 12,786 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    There are rules for everything in the world. There is also a set of rules that makes embroiderer's life easier whenever he or she needs to position the design on the item. For it is at times easier to follow an internationally established guideline and not to rack one's brains to find the place where the embroidery will look best. It works good in case there is no need to create a highly unusual design that may demand departing from the rules. 
    Pictures below demonstrate the general rules of embroidery design placement: 
    Towels
     
    Duvet covers and top bed sheets 

    Left chest 

    Socks 

    Center chest on garments 

    Turtleneck collar 

    Handkerchiefs, blankets, napkins 

    Shorts 

    Left chest under pocket 

    Left chest on polo shirt 

    Back on a polo shirt or an ordinary shirt 

    Cuff 

    Pockets 

    Pillow-cases 

     
    An item

    Where to place the embroidery

    Polo shirts

    Left chest, centered 17.5-22.5 cm below the shoulder seam or 10-12.5 cm from shirt center. You can also embroider the name on the front, and the surname — on the back of the shirt. In this case the surname on the left should be mirrored to the name

    T-shirt

    Left chest, 17.5-22.5 cm below the shoulder seam, centered between T-shirt center and the side seam or 10-15 cm from T-shirt center.

    Pocket

    Centered 2.5 cm above pocket or 10-12 mm below edge of pocket, centered between left and right seams, or centered on pocket

    Shirt front (a very small monogram on the placket)

    Design is positioned on placket between 2nd and 3rd buttons, centered between left and right seams.

    Shirt back

    12.5 cm below the collar bottom, centered between left and right seams

    Shirt front

    Left chest, 17.5-22.5 cm below shoulder seam, centered between placket and side seam or 7.5-12.5 cm from shirt center.

    Cuff (a very small monogram)

    Only the left cuff is embroidered — 3.5 cm to the left from buttonhole (or 2.5-3.0 cm from the cuff center). The lower edge of a design should be 0.6-0.7 cm higher than the edge of the cuff. A monogram should be visible in wear.

    Jacket front

    Left chest side 16-20 cm below left shoulder seam and 10 cm from center

    Jacket back

    17.5-22.5 cm below shoulder seam, centered between side seams

    Women jacket

    2.5 cm to the side from buttonhole and 0.6-0.7 cm above its top

    Turtleneck

    On the collar between left shoulder seam and collar center so that the embroidery is on the outside 10-12 cm from the fold

    Sweater

    Left chest, 17.5-22.5 cm below shoulder seam and 7.5-12.5 cm from the center or in the middle between the center of the sweater and side seam. On women sweaters the design may be moved 5 cm higher Or placed in the center

    Sweat-shirt

    Left chest, 17.5-22.5 cm below shoulder seam and 7.5-12.5 cm from the center.

    Shorts

    On the leg 10-12 cm from turn-up seam and 2.5 cm from side seam

    Necktie

    5 cm above the necktie's end

    Scarf

    Centered 10 cm above edge

    Socks

    10-12 mm from upper edge

    Apron

    Centered 10 cm below upper edge

    Bib

    In the center

    Bathrobe

    10-15 below left shoulder seam, centered between flap and side seam

    Pajamas

    Left chest, 17.5-22.5 cm below left shoulder seam and 7.5-12.5 cm from center

    Handkerchief

    3-3.5 cm from point of corner, sewn diagonally

    Hand towel

    5 cm above hem or 3.5-4 cm above border

    Bath towel

    10 cm above hem or 3.5-5 cm above border

    Bath sheet

    12.5 cm above hem or 6-7.5 cm above border

    Beach towel

    12.5 cm above hem or 6-7.5 cm above border

    Napkin

    7.5 cm from point of corner, sewn at the angle of 45°

    Placemat

    7.5 cm from upper right corner, sewn diagonally

    Table cloth

    12.5 cm from point of corner, sewn diagonally

    Top bed sheet

    Lower right corner or on wide hem 5 cm below the fold. If a bed sheet has shams, you can place the design on them

    Pillow case

    In the center If the opening is on the side, the design is centered on it. If a pillow has shams, it is possible to place the design in the center of every one of them.

    Blanket

    20-25 cm from point of lower corner, sewn diagonally

    Decorative pillow case

    Centered on pillow case

    Bag

    10 cm from the bottom centered left to right or centered on the bag

    Of course, the numbers mentioned may vary. This happens because the size of the items differ. 
    And keep in mind the most basic rule: measure thrice and embroider once. 

    Changing #40 thread for #30

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 3,185 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    I've decided to further discuss the subject of saving the number stitches in the design, about which I wrote earlier, and try a very interesting method: changing the ordinary #40 thread for the thicker #30 one. 
    It is believed that a change like that allows to save up to 20% of stitches and yet maintain the proper look. These 20% weren't spun out of thin air, but carefully calculated: the #30 thread is exactly 20% thicker than #40. I want to see it with my own eyes. 
    I've seen on various exhibitions that many of the manufacturers use thicker threads quite often, mostly for interior decoration. And the reasons they are doing it is to save the number of stitches and the time needed for the embroidery. And the threads, of course. In my country all threads except the standard #40 ones should be preordered and received only after a month or so. What a pity. For this is a real honeypot. 
    My test will somewhat lack validity, because the threads have different composition. It's all because #30 rayon or polyester thread is not easy to find. Or maybe I don't know where to look. But in this case I'm particularly interested in saving stitches because of the thread change. 
    So. I have 3 types of thread of different brands for the purpose: 

    I'll list them from left to right: WonderFil 120/3 (cotton), Gunold 30 (cotton), Fufu's 120/2 (polyester). You can easily see on the photo that the two threads on the left are of the same thickness, and the one on the right is really thin compared to them. 
    I created a simple monogram, made two copies of it and changed the parameters, such as stitch density and the density of the underlay. I embroidered them all together on one piece of fabric: 

    Of course, the threads are different and so is their look. 
    The monogram on the right was embroidered with polyester thread in an ordinary way with the density of 0.4 mm. In contains 4365 stitches. 
    The monogram in the center was embroidered with Gunold cotton thread. It contains 3613 stitches. I lowered the fill density and the density of the underlay by 20%. Incidentally, I liked a lot how these threads lie on fabric. 
    The monogram on the left was embroidered with WonderFil cotton. It contains 3444 stitches. Here I lowered the density by 25%. 
    Summary: The monogram in the center looks rather good because of the use of cotton thread. The stitch coverage is acceptable. And yet it allows to save about 17.2% of stitches. As for the monogram on the left, the low density is visible. Though it saves 21% of stitches. 

    Testing the quality of the hooping

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 0 comments, 3,757 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    I think that the subject of hooping deserves to be expanded once again. Today we'll look into such an important aspect as testing of the quality of the hooping. This is necessary for avoiding such widespread troubles as pulling of the fabric, gaps between outlines, object shifting etc. 
    In order to succeed you only need to check a few things after the hooping. They are quite self-evident, but sometimes some of these just go wrong: 
    Turn the hoop the wrong side up and make sure that the stabilizer is evenly hooped and not lopsided, thus leaving the fabric without support. You may avoid this by sticking the stabilizer onto the fabric. 
    Also make sure that some part of an item was not accidentally hooped as well. 

    Now turn the hoop the right side up and check if the fabric is taut. There are two ways of doing it:  Checking if the surface of the fabric is even.  If there are creases present, unhoop the whole thing, adjust the screw and do the hooping all over again. 
    Try to lift the fabric with your fingers so that to separate it from the stabilizer. In other words, check if you can 'pinch' it.
     And if you can, tighten the hoop screw.  Trace the fabric surface with your finger. There should be no air bubbles. If one appears, you should unhoop the fabric, tighten the hoop screw and hoop again. 
    Now check whether the fabric has not slipped out of the hoop on either side. In order to do this try tugging it slightly. This often happens in case you use a square hoop instead of the round one, which tightly secures the fabric at the corners, yet has the gaps on the sides. If the fabric slips out, you should wrap the hoop in the soft cloth. Apply wrapping only to the sides and not the corners. Then rehoop once again after that.  That seems to be all. I would also try to make sure that the fabric wasn't lopsided or that there was no deformation both vertically and across. But this is not always apparent to the eye, for textiles differ from each other. At the same time I would check if the fabric was hooped evenly, whether it had not shifted in relation to the grid, in order to embroider in the planned direction. 

    Removing the hoop burn

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 1 comment, 13,152 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    I've already raised the question of hoop marks (hoop burn) on fabric and the ways of avoiding them. Today I will write about removing the ones that are already there. 

    First let's try to figure out what is the reasons for their appearance. It is believed that the reason for hoop marks is screwing a hoop too tightly so that the rings are fitted too closely. The traces may vary: 
    Simple creases  Shiny rings  Fibers shift  Fibers damage  Some fabrics are more prone to get hoop marks and some are less. For example, pure fabrics will more likely get hoop marks, unlike the blended ones. Fabrics like velvet are often difficult to hoop and require alternative methods of securing, because the hoop tramples down the pile, which is then uneasy to restore to its original condition. 
    Of course, some of these marks are easier to remove than the others; everything depends upon the degree of damage and fabric composition. 
    There are numerous ways of removing the hoop burn. I've seen the following recommendations, which require inexpensive means that are always under our hand: 
    Always keep a bottle with a sprinkle, filled with plain water. After unhooping, spray the hoop marks with water right away and leave it for 5 or 10 minutes to dry. When fabric is dry, press it with steam.  A sticky roller brush that removes fluff and pile from clothing will help with the hoop burn on dark textiles.  Starch mixed with water will be equally effective. You need to sprinkle it over the hoop marks and dub them with a soft cloth or just by hand. But this is only true for light-colored fabrics.  For the dark-colored fabrics better use an ordinary fabric softener.  Hoop marks will easily come off the knitted fabric if you use steam. I've tried this one myself.  It is recommended to remove shiny hoop burn with vinegar and water cleaning solution, which is sprayed over the damaged place and then dubbed with the piece of the same fabric.  Flattened pile could be brushed.  Creases will most probably disappear after first washing.  Fiber shift is much harder to correct. I remember how I had to restore the fabric simply by moving the fibers back to their original position one by one with the help of a needle. Fiber damage (tear) is, in my opinion, irreparable. Therefore you should very attentive to how tightly you hoop the fabric. 

    Hooping minutiae

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 1 comment, 6,424 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    Oh Your Excellency Lord Hooping Device! How much depends on You! 
    But let's be more serious: how can we make hooping of the garments more easy, but yet use an ordinary hoop? I don't suggest using special devices that help positioning an item in the hoop, which every embroiderer dreams of. What I mean is what one can do with an ordinary hoop to make life easier. 
    Not very long ago I was embroidering with the use of the ordinary square hoop, which is a part of any commercial embroidery machine, and no stabilizer. And in case no stabilizer is present, it is very important for the fabric to be very taut in the hoop. What's no less important is preventing the fabric from slipping out of the hoop during the embroidery, as it will inevitably cause the pull. 
    My hoop is made of plastic. And the fabric has a tendency to slipping out of it along the sides because of the gap between the bigger and smaller squares, and also to become slack in the hoop. However, the fabric is firmly secured at the corners. 
    All this happens because the gap between the inner and outer squares varies — it is the smallest at the corners and the biggest at the centers of the sides. Of course, the fact that the tension is spread unevenly may lead to all kinds of embarrassing situations. 
    I didn't have time for intricacies, and therefore, I did this: took a roll of the ordinary adhesive bandage (the one that can be found at the chemist's) and stuck it onto the inner side of the outer square, where it touched the outer side of inner square, like this: 

    This helped to even the tension during the embroidery, and additionally made hooping easier. 
    But having embroidered a couple of items with these 'patches' I've noticed that the ones at the sides were not thick enough, because the fabric loosened there. Therefore, they should be made thicker. So I took an ordinary paper adhesive and wrapped it around each side of the hoop 2 times: 

    The attempts to hoop the fabric with and without a stabilizer were successful — the tension was right, and the fabric almost was not pulled at the corners. 

    I've read somewhere recently that there are special materials that can be stuck to the rings (ovals, squares) of the hoop to prevent the fabric from slipping out, similar to the ones I made of an adhesive bandage. The name slipped from my memory. Soft duct tape for hoop wrapping can also be found on the western markets. 
    Given that I have two sets of hoops of every size, I decided to wrap the straight sides of my second square hoop in a thin fabric. I took a strip of calico about 2 cm wide: 

    Wrapped the outer square in it, not forgetting to make a small bulge at the center of each side. I secured the ends with a few stitches so that the wrap did not unwind. This is what I got: 

    Hooping test showed that wrapping works good as well. 
    Then I decided to see how the wrapping would effect the performance of the round hoop. In my opinion, using the round hoop is easier, because the gap between the rings is the same along the perimeter. Anyway, I wanted to check if there was the difference: 

    I hooped a piece of knitwear together with a stabilizer. The result was splendid. The quality of the hooping was increased because of wrapping of the ring in a fabric. 
    Summary: wrapping of the hoop and evening of the gap with the 'patches' improves the quality of the hooping. 
    But the hoop marks (also known as hoop burn) on knitwear are still present: 

    And why shouldn't they be if the outer ring has not been wrapped. My next step was to test the widely publicized method of removing the hoop burn — putting paper under the outer ring. 
    It is usually advised to use the thin cigarette paper for this purpose. But I don't have any, and the only substitute I could fined was thin tearaway stabilizer. Now I'll try to make a 'sandwich' — stabilizer/knitwear/stabilizer: 

    Because the paper that lies on top is nontransparent, it is very difficult to control the fabric during the hooping. This I didn't like right away. But I've already hooped the fabric and tore the stabilizer off. I will not embroider on stabilizer, will I? 

    The quality of such blind hooping leaves much to be desired. A not at all convenient method, and what's more, everything was in vain, for the burn on knitwear remained visible, though to a lesser degree. 

    But was determined to bring this matter to a conclusion. Therefore I proceeded, and an idea popped into my mind: how about cutting a window in the piece of cloth the size of the future embroidery and trying to hoop it with the fabric and the stabilizer, in order to see if the marks would be visible after that. 
    This time I used the following layers: stabilizer/knitwear/additional fabric with a window in it. 

    The hooping was of a comparatively higher quality than I achieved with paper. Not to mention the fact that hooping is much easier if you can see what you're doing: 

    But I was really interested in hoop marks: would they appear or not? It turned out that the fabric didn't prevent appearance of the hoop burn. 

    I really don't know what say about a trace like this one. What should one do to avoid it? 
    P.S. The idea for this article was suggested to me by Lydia. 
    P.P.S. Various tips on removing the hoop burn can be found here. 

    Multicolored threads for machine embroidery. What to do about them?

    By Irina, in Machine embroidery materials and technology, , 6 comments, 5,006 views
    Original text by: Marina Belova 
    Multicolored threads and to what purposes can they be used, always have been a mystery to me. They seem extremely beautiful on spools, but the result of the embroidery is often discouraging. Where can they be used so that the result would not look odd? 
    Multicolored threads can be called in different ways: some manufacturers say "multicolored" or "multiple colored", the others — "color blend"; you could even see the name "variegated". Usually they are #40 threads that weigh just about the same as the standard ones. The price is slightly higher than for the standard threads of the same composition. The color combinations may be most unusual to the eye. There may be 2 colors that either blend smoothly or contrast each other. There can be a distinctive pattern, or a rather chaotic one.
    Here is an illustrative example of multicolored threads: 

    Or even more illustrative one: 

    There is so little information on these threads that you don't know where to start. Because every time you embroider with them, you inevitably get stripes, both on satins and fills. 
    The only techniques known to me where these threads contribute to an interesting and good-looking result are trapunto (free-motion) and quilting. That is, embroidery with simple stitches. Or decorative motif stitches in extreme cases. All the other types of stitches are offending to the eye. 
    Not long ago I was embroidering a butterfly in the Thread Velvet technique, and got an idea not to change colors, but to use the multicolored thread instead — it was easier with that particular design. The characteristic striped look of the embroidery before trimming is shown on the photo below: 

    It becomes better after you've trimmed and slightly frayed the threads: 

    While observing the embroidery process, I notice an interesting effect. As I mentioned in my blog about the Thread Velvet, this technique stems from employing several layers of satin stitches, superimposed. So, when I was embroidering the layers of satin stitches of low density, the threads in them got intermixed, and that seemed to destroy the striped effect. 
    This gave me the idea of using these threads in the Balboa Stitch technique, which involves embroidering the same objects with layers of satin stitches of low density, superimposed. I decided to experiment a little. I chose the design. There was a gradient fill it in, how very suitable for my purpose: 
    And I created a butterfly test design out of it, which employed a number of various techniques: standard satins, standard fills, layers of satins of a high and low density, and also layers of fills of low density. This is the result that I got: 

    Let's look at the image, moving from left to right: 

    Two columns in the leftmost vertical row — both satin stitches and the fills are made of low density layers. The layers and, subsequently, the colors superimpose chaotically, which results in a curious effect.  Two columns in the next row were made using traditional methods. The shapes here are simple, the embroidery is covered with the stripes of even width.  Then the third vertical row: the butterfly on top is made of ordinary satin stitches, the on the bottom — of standard fills. The shapes here are more complex and the thread is spread in a more random way, but the stripes are visible.  The forth row was made of low density stitch layers. The butterfly, embroidered with satins, in located on top, and the fills are on the bottom. It creates an ambiguous effect.  This is my summary for now: 
    A definite "yes" to the simple stitches done with these threads.  The same can be said about Thread Velvet technique.  A definite "no" to standard fills.  As for using the ordinary satin stitches, the question remains open for the debate, for the result was not so bad. At least, with these threads.  As for the layered technique, it is only good for very simple objects.  There are more questions that there are answers, as usual. 
    Does anyone have an idea, where one may use these enigmatic threads? 

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