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Original text by Marina Belova About two weeks ago I saw a cap with a 3D embroidery of a very high quality at my work. The distinctive feature of that embroidery was that it hadn't been done in the usual way 3D embroidery design again — covering the 3D Puff with satin stitches. Instead, the 3D Puff was covered with the ordinary Tatami stitches because the design didn't allow doing it any other way — the shape of the embroidered object was too intricate. Nonetheless, the embroidery looked puffy enough. Of course, I've been familiar with this method for some time now, yet I haven't seen any examples. Moreover, I haven't even seen a single photo of an item embroidered in this way. For this reason, I used to think that Tatami fill with its abundant needle perforations would break the 3D Puff and the embroidery would be flat. I couldn't be more wrong. Of course, seeing a real-life example of an embroidery of that kind, understanding that someone managed to do it, one cannot help to become eager to do something like that, too. Having considered it for a while, I chose a design and digitized it: It turned out that there was not the slightest difficulty in making a machine embroidery design that would work. All of the rules for digitizing a design with satin stitches over 3D Puff could be applied here: increase the density and secure the open ends (provided that they are present). I didn't use any understitching, except for the edge run. You can read here why I did so. I used the standard flat Tatami pattern that can be found in any editor, with needle penetration offset at 33 and 66%. The embroidery process goes as follows: First, we mark the place on the fabric where the 3D Puff will be located with a guide stitch. I do it only because 3D Puff is quite expensive, and I'd better not squander it: Place a piece of the 3D Puff onto it, having previously sprayed it with an adhesive: I used Gunold solid 3D Puff because it was the only one I had: Embroider: Give the embroidery design the finishing touches: Tear off the Puff. Everything looks very, very good. 3D Puff under Tatami pattern was nearly as high as under the satin columns: All I have left is to remove the 3D Puff leftovers that stick out. And this is how the boundaries are destroyed.

Original text by Marina Belova Padded appliqué that creates volume is an ordinary appliqué with a special material under the appliqué fabric called padding. 3D Puff (Foam), polyester batting, foam rubber and other materials can be used as such. The number of layers in the padding can vary depending on the thickness of the material and the desired effect. According to my experiments with trapunto, knitwear is the best appliqué fabric that does not crumple the padding too much. I didn't find the process of creating a padded appliqué too different from the one of the traditional patched appliqué. It is simple and includes 3 steps: First, a running stitch outline that will show where to put the "layer cake" (the appliqué fabric together with the padding). Having embroidered an outline, the machine stops and the frame comes out. It is necessary for the better placement of the fabric and the padding. After that, a running or a zig-zag stitch joins the appliqué fabric and the padding together. Having stitched them to each other, the machine stops and the frame comes out for trimming of the fabric and the padding along the perimeter of the running stitch or zig-zag. The finishing border that covers the edges is embroidered next. There can be a slight variation to the process. It involves first stitching the padding to the main fabric and trimming it, then stitching the appliqué to them and trimming all three together. Everyone should choose what is more convenient for them: stitch and trim all the layers together or separately. If you ask my opinion, there are not too many variations to a finishing border: Satin Fill Digitizing a padded appliqué by hand: Create a running stitch outline that will show where to place the fabric and the padding. Insert a stop so that the frame will come out for positioning of the appliqué fabric together with the padding. The way of adding commands depends on the type of your embroidery machine. Create an outline that stitches the appliqué fabric to the main one. Insert a stop so that the frame will come out for positioning of the appliqué fabric together with the padding. The way of adding commands depends on your embroidery machine type. Create a finishing stitch column border. The width of a finishing border should be no less than 4–5 mm. It is necessary because it is rather hard to trim extra fabric with the padding so that the edges of this "layer cake" didn't show from under the thin outline. Therefore, you can't be too cautious with the width of the finishing border.

Original text by: Marina Belova Not very long ago I've noticed a pretty-looking design embroidered on 3D Puff with a metallic thread. And I thought I could do it, too – there is seemingly no difference between embroidery threads, right? After all, in standard embroidery cases the difference is minimal. Nothing of the kind. See, how ugly the result is: At the beginning the embroidery runs smooth, then there are stitches missing, then everything is smooth again. And the reason for these gaps is not that the stitches in different embroidery segments lie in opposing directions and there aren't much overlaps — each of the contours equals one segment, and therefore, all of them are unidirectional. I don't understand what is the problem: the brand or the thread itself? Do I need to change my needle (system, needlepoint, thickness etc.)? Or do I need to change stitch parameters (density, carcass)? Or, perhaps, I should change the filler (3D Puff)? Those who have embroidered on , help me, please!