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How to embroider small items of clothing. Hooping tricks Whenever there is a need to embroider small items of clothing, such as future pockets or cuffs, and your machine only has one hoop, these hooping tricks will do the job. There are several ways of hooping a small item, and in this article, I’m describing two of them. Either one will get you a beautiful high-quality embroidery. The first way of hooping a small item is to glue it to the tear-away adhesive stabilizer. Just what you need for not-too-heavy designs and small monograms. Adhere the item to the stabilizer and hoop in the usual way; the adhesive will secure the fabric in place and prevent shifting during the embroidery. The second way is to hoop the fabric itself. Suitable for smaller and bigger items alike. This is called the fabric extension method. You’ll need a few strips of extra fabric (calico, for example). Stitch them to the main fabric with a straight stitch about 5 mm long. After that, it is advisable to press seams with an iron to make them flatter. Adhere the stabilizer to the wrong side and hoop the item. If you're an owner of a Brother Innov-is le sewing and embroidery machine, you can use the built-in camera for the exact positioning of the design. This is very handy whenever the accurate placement of the design is crucial, such as while working with checkered or striped fabrics. How to use the built-in camera Press the Fabric scan key to view the location of the pressing foot on the LCD screen. Pick one of the positioning stickers that come with the machine and affix it within the embroidery field specified by the machine. Take away the sticker and your hands and wait for the machine to perform the scan. Now the pattern can be viewed in the Embroidery Edit screen, allowing for the better positioning of the design on the hooped item. When the embroidery is finished, remove the stabilizer leftovers or rip off the extra strips of fabric and iron the item on a soft underlay, right side down. Original text by Irina Lisitsa Don't forget to buy some lightweight designs from our store! See also:

Machine embroidery on terry cloth: the guidelines Every one of us becomes familiar with terry cloth in early childhood: our favorite bathrobes and bath towels are made of it. Terry cloth is most commonly used to produce items for home. Embroidery on terry cloth is a pleasure, for the fabric is stable and doesn't stretch. The loops are, perhaps, the only disadvantage, but if you are familiar with the correct hooping technique, and know how to choose a stabilizer and a design for the particular fabric, you needn’t concern yourself with them. In this article, we’ll cover the main points of the embroidery on terry cloth. One needs to keep in mind that all this information pertains to home embroidery and sewing and embroidery equipment; nevertheless, many of the recommendations will be applicable to commercial embroidery equipment as well. Terry cloth: its composition and properties Terry cloth is an uncut-pile fabric used in the production of towels, beach robes, bath slippers, bed linen for grown-ups and kids, children’s toys, and even bar furnishings. As for its composition, terry cloth is usually made of cotton, linen or, less frequently, bamboo. The fabric absorbs a lot of moisture and doesn’t stretch. These properties, along with the range of uses, make terry cloth very attractive for the embroiderers, both amateur and professional ones. Lately, synthetic fibers are used in the making of the fabric rather often. This lowers its quality a bit, but using it as your main fabric does not affect the result of the embroidery. There are advantages as well. Baby bibs are made of terry cloth that is partly composed of synthetic fibers. They are soft, and the after-effects of breakfast and dinners easily wash off them. Terry cloth differs in weight, thread twist, and loop height. These are the main properties one should pay attention to when mastering the embroidery on terry cloth. The higher the loop, the greater the possibility of its sinking into the fabric or showing through the fill. The thicker the fabric, the more likely you’ll have trouble with hooping it, as such fabric will be more difficult to properly secure. It is possible, but not easily attainable, and besides, do you really need it? Let's proceed. Choosing machine embroidery needles and threads When embroidering on terry cloth, one shouldn’t concern oneself too much with the needles. Ordinary embroidery kind will be just fine. In case there is trouble, use specialty needles listed below. For the embroidery on a loosely spun terry cloth, use ball point needles, such as the ones designed for knitwear. They separate the yarns without cutting them. For the embroidery on a dense terry cloth with high uncut pile and containing a great number of synthetic fibers, use a topstitch needle with a sharp tip. Such a needle easily pierces the material, thus preventing the slip stitching. If you’re going to use metallic threads, use the needle designed specifically for that purpose; metallics are whimsical: when passing through an eye of a wrongly chosen needle, they tend to fray, which at best costs them their luster, and at worst makes them snap a lot. Any threads may be used for the embroidery on terry cloth—cotton, polyester, wool, etc. The main thing that matters is their durability. Rayon and metallic thread are, perhaps, the less washable: they don't get along well with bleachers and other chemicals used in laundry. We’ll probably offer nothing new in the bobbing thread choice department. Use a common bobbin thread (white or black, depending on the design color scheme). Its thickness will depend not so much on the chosen fabric properties as on the whims of your embroidery machine. It has been noted that some machines do not take to a very thin bobbin thread (#200). When embroidering a design on a terry towel, try to choose a bobbin thread of a matching color—in that case, the wrong side will look tidier. Keep in mind, though, that it will make the embroidery thicker. Choosing a stabilizer For the embroidery on terry cloth, the stabilizers listed below will come in handy. When embroidering on terry cloth, the backing is used not only to prevent puckering but also as the main fabric that will be hooped. Tearaway nonadhesive stabilizers are preferable. They can be easily removed without scissors. On the market, you’ll find this kind of stabilizer in two colors, black and white. The color of stabilizer depends on the color of the fabric. It’s better to use black backing with dark fabrics, and a white one with light-colored fabrics. Stabilizers also differ in weight. For the embroidery on terry cloth, use the following stabilizers: 1640, 1650, 1751, 1860. Use stabilizers 1751 and 1860 for the dense terry cloth with high uncut pile (bath towels, bathrobes), and stabilizers 1640 and 1650—for the terry cloth with a low uncut pile (face towels). In addition to the nonadhesive stab, a temporary spray adhesive will be necessary. Filmoplast As a backing, Filmoplast (a tearaway stabilizer with a sticky surface) is the most convenient. It comes in two colors, white and black. You can attach it to the fabric immediately after peeling off the protective paper. More on how to work with these materials in the Hooping methods section. Adhesive stabilizers may be used as well, but in that case, you’ll have to hoop the fabric, and there is no need to hoop the terry cloth. Besides, hooping terry cloth means to make the whole process more complicated. For a topping, we recommend a water-soluble film that prevents the stitches from sinking into the fabric and can be easily removed without washing. Other kinds of topping are of little use for the embroidery on terry cloth. You may use them, but with no avail. Hooping methods Hooping terry cloth is easy. There will be no need to get the fabric tight as a drum or keep an eye on it so that there is not a single wrinkle, as you do with knits. After two or three attempts embroidery on terry cloth will become easy to you. Methods of hooping depend on the kinds of stabilizers recommended for the terry cloth. Materials Nonadhesive stabilizer (backing) Spray adhesive Water-soluble film Hoop the nonadhesive stabilizer. Carefully smooth down the stabilizer and tighten it a bit so that is doesn’t sag. Tighten the screw. Spray the upper side of the stabilizer with a temporary spray adhesive. Place the fabric with its right side facing up on top of the stabilizer. Pin the water-soluble film on top of the fabric. If you have some trouble locating the embroidery area on your machine, use a template. Any template has an embroidery area marked upon it. Materials Filmoplast Water-soluble film Scissors Hoop the Filmoplast. Carefully smooth it down and tighten it a bit so that is doesn’t sag. Tighten the screw. With your scissors, make an incision in the stabilizer’s protective layer. Peel off the protective layer. On top of the stabilizer, place your fabric with its right side facing up. On top of the fabric, place the water-soluble film. Pin it to the fabric. If you have some trouble locating the embroidery area on your machine, use a template. Any template has an embroidery area marked upon it. Choosing machine embroidery designs The vast majority of machine embroidery designs gives one freedom to act. When choosing a design, one should learn to see it from the inside. To understand which fills the creator has used and whether the embroidery will look good on terry cloth. Having tried different embroidery techniques, you’ll come to the conclusion that in the majority of cases a topping should be used for the embroidery on terry cloth. If you’ll stick to this rule, the embroidery on a garment will undoubtedly come out beautifully. In order for you to know your way around the plenitude of machine embroidery designs, we offer the tried-and-true variants with the detailed account of the results. We have lots of logos and other designs in our store. All of the showpieces were embroidered with the help of the 1751 nonadhesive tearaway stabilizer. All stitching designs may be divided into two main kinds: 1) Double run—as a rule, all quilting and Redwork designs are made with simple double running stitches 2) Triple Run—every stitch is repeated three times. The record shows that Triple Run designs come out good with or without the water-soluble film on top. After you’ve removed the stabilizer leftovers and gently passed your hand over the surface, the difference is hardly visible. As regards Double Run, one may state that it is better not to use it while embroidering designs without topping. The difference is clearly pronounced. The picture below shows the same design embroidered with and without the topping. One should not forget that the design embroidered with running stitches on terry cloth may in time sink into the fabric, despite the result being satisfactory right after the embroidery. Therefore, here’s what we propose: embroider stitching designs on thin terry items with low uncut pile (face towels) and refrain from doing that on thick terry items with high uncut pile (bathrobes and bath towels). A highly popular kind of machine embroidery designs are congratulations and inscriptions, and also logos made with satin columns. Monograms are also created with the help of satin columns. This kind of designs is perfect for towels, bathrobes and other items made of terry cloth. To provide you with full information on the subject, we have embroidered terry cloth with satin stitches under different circumstances. In the picture below you can see a monogram embroidered with the topping and without. We’ve tested the design on the least troublesome fabric with the low uncut pile. 1751 nonadhesive stabilizer was used as the backing. When embroidering monograms that consist of satin columns and fills without topping, thread breakage often occurs. The thread is caught in the loops, and that leads to chaffing. Thread breakage is not linked with the needle type or the kind of thread used (we’ve tried metallic, rayon and polyester embroidery threads of various manufacturers). The difficulty was also caused by the fact that the thread didn’t break at once but was chaffed so that the machine continued to embroider for some time after that. When embroidering the same design with the topping, the thread didn’t snap even once, and what’s more, the embroidery ran at a higher speed, with an excellent result. The embroidery without the stabilizer ran at 350 spm, with the stabilizer—at 600 spm! Tatami is one of the most popular fills. Up to 80% of the designs contain objects filled with it. In order to understand how Tatami behaves on terry cloth, we’ve used a simple design with the high-density fill (“Mushrooms”) and a design with the low-density fill (“Flower”). Both designs were embroidered twice, with and without water-soluble stabilizer. We’ve got the following results. The embroidery of the designs that contain Tatami fill without topping leads to trouble. When stitching the design with high-density fill (“Mushrooms”) without the water-soluble stabilizer, the thread twisted and snapped. Terry cloth showed through. When doing this design with the topping, the result was a way better. Though in some places terry cloth is still visible through the fill, you may avoid it by adding an underlay. When embroidering a design with a low-density fill (“Flower”) without the stabilizer, terry cloth showed through the fill, and the thread did not twist but snapped at once. That most often happened on very small stitches. When embroidering the same design with the water-soluble topping, terry cloth didn’t show through (almost), but in some places, where the fill was the least dense, one could see the color of the main fabric. Choosing a design with the Tatami fill, pay attention to whether it has an underlay: it further strengthens the fabric and prevents the terry cloth from showing through during wear. The design we’ve chosen for our test piece didn’t have an underlay and was rather dense. Perfect for terry cloth! The fabric covers the pile that adds some volume to the embroidery. We recommend using a water-soluble stabilizer on top—though without it the thread didn’t break, the loops showed through the satin column. Cross-stitch looked wonderful on a terry towel embroidered with the help of water-soluble stabilizer. One may turn a blind eye to the slight distortion of the stitches after the removal of the stabilizer if one wants a towel embroidered in this technique. We advise against the embroidery without the water-soluble stabilizer because the result is the same as with other embroidery techniques: thread breakage and stitches shifting. Of course, the sky is the limit for a really imaginative embroiderer, but the designs rendered in this technique are not good for terry cloth, especially for a dense high-piled one. If you're going to do cutwork, use the techniques above. You’ll find the guidelines in the section where we discussed satin columns. When choosing a design, pay attention to the width of the satin column. Do not use designs with columns less than 3 mm wide that are trimmed on the side. Taking care of an embroidered item If you want your embroidered item to serve you for many years (OK, months at least), you’ll need to learn how to take care of it. Having finished the embroidery, remove the traces of topping and backing. Gently iron the item in the embroidered area. An important note: it’s better not to use hot pressing and steaming with terry cloth. The loops are flattened, the general appearance of the garment suffers, making it look untidy. You may circumvent this issue by keeping an iron suspended above the fabric and using the steam boost option. Or, you may use a soft underlay—for example, a blanket, or an old terry towel. Items made of terry cloth are highly washable, therefore, if you’ve chosen right threads, no chemicals or high temperatures will do your item any damage. Machine maintenance If you embroider on terry cloth often, especially without any backing, the lint, which is always present, may clutter the shuttle. It is, perhaps, the only problem your embroidery machine may encounter during the embroidery on terry cloth. Keep your shuttle clean and everything will be fine! Happy embroidery! Original text by Irina Lisitsa, Maria Stratan, Lisa Prass

Machine embroidery on linen It is getting difficult for newcomers to find the information they seek among the numerous articles and forum discussions. Therefore, I have compiled all the pieces covering embroidery on linen here. In masterclasses, and also on sewing and embroidery forums, you often see phrases like “sew linen”, “embroidery on linen”, “linen napkins”. No wonder, as linen is a very easy-to-sew fabric. There are heavyweight linen fabrics (grayish brown in color), semi-white, white and dyed. Linens are valued for their durability and wear resistance, and also for their ability to absorb moisture while allowing for good heat and air penetration. Linen fabric varies greatly in appearance, from smooth with a matte finish to heavyweight with a coarse structure. Linen fabric is perfect for tablecloths, table napkins, curtains or bed linen decorated with embroidery. This fabric allows for the natural thermoregulation of the human body, which makes it a perfect material for summer clothes. Types of linen fabric, their uses, and appeal for the embroiderers, will be covered in the future articles. Here I’m talking about how embroidery on linen should be done. Newbie seamstresses and embroiderers should remember that natural (i.e. not containing any synthetic fibers) linen fabric shrinks a lot after washing. One must keep this in mind before cutting out and a pattern and embroidering. In order for the embroidered item to keep its neat look after the first laundering, you need to sanforize the fabric, i.e. to wash it or moisten it with hot steam. After washing, the fabric should be smoothed down while still damp, to save yourself the trouble with ironing out the creases. The rules of embroidery on linen Linen is a very easy fabric to embroider and the least troublesome for embroiderers. Nevertheless, there are several pieces of advice that may come handy for the first-time embroiderers on this highly manageable material. Hooping Linen is hooped in a standard way. The fabric should be smoothed down before being placed in the hoop, with a matching stabilizer glued to its wrong side. Only after that the fabric together with the stabilizer is placed onto the smaller hoop and is covered with a bigger one. Tighten the screw until the fabric is taut to prevent shifting during the embroidery. If the fabric is very thin and you’re afraid to damage it, you may hoop a tearaway stabilizer, and glue the fabric on top. Needles There are no special requirements when choosing needles for embroidery on linen. An ordinary embroidery needle with a sharp tip will be fine. Threads You can use any kind of embroidery threads: polyester, rayon, cotton ones; though it is not advisable to use metallics, there are no rules. If your design calls for metallic threads, try it out. Cotton thread is most often used for the embroidery on linen because its dull surface goes will together with the linen surface. Acrylic threads look interesting: they resemble woolen yarns in appearance. Stabilizer Choosing the right kind of stabilizer for linen depends on the fabric type and the design properties. The density of the stabilizer depends on the density of the design and the fabric weight. If the linen is thin, and the design is dense, you’ll need a tearaway stabilizer with adhesive or an ordinary tearaway. If the linen is dense and plain weave, and the design is a “light” one that only contains simple stitches, you may spare the stabilizer altogether. Too dense designs look bad on thin fabrics, spoiling the effect by reminding one of coarse patches. Soft, if dense, designs should be embroidered on soft, flowing fabrics. If embroidering a dense design on a thin linen fabric cannot be avoided, use a thin bobbin thread: it will make the embroidery a bit lighter. As textured linen is often loosely woven, it is necessary to use a thin water-soluble film on top of it. Embroidery designs In case you digitize your own designs, you’ll need to maintain a certain ratio between the density of the design and the weight of linen on which the design or inscription will be embroidered. If you’re going to embroider on loosely woven linen, it’s better to secure it with an outline prior to the embroidery. If you haven't learned to digitize yet, you are welcome to choose something from our large collection of free embroidery designs. Follow these rules, and the embroidery on linen will be a piece of pie to you. Linen towels, napkins, tablecloths, curtains, bedcovers, and pillowcases will decorate your home. Linen clothes, comfortable to wear, will look beautiful as well, thanks to the machine embroidery. ] Original text by Yelena Kraftwork

T-shirts can be found practically in anyone’s wardrobe. They are soft, unpretentious and comfortable to wear. That is to say, unpretentious if you want them this way. A pretty embroidery design will make the simplest everyday item distinctive. At the same time, this simplest everyday item may prove a real challenge for an embroiderer. While this article was originally intended for beginners, it turned out that many seasoned embroiderers are afraid to tackle with T-shirts as well. And why? Because knits can be really tricky. Here are some tips that will help you tame them. Buy a good T-shirt T-shirts are predominantly made of cotton, but other kinds of fibers may be used as well—rayon, polyester, Lycra, linen, and various blends. They have slightly different properties, and there are also quality grades. Combed cotton is softer than basic cotton, and Pima cotton, thanks to its extra-long fibers, is considered the finest of all. Not only T-shirts of finer quality wear better but they also pucker less. They also differ in weight. Heavier fabrics are preferable for fibers in them don’t warp as much as in the lighter ones. Pre-launder Wash your T-shirt before starting an embroidery project. Cotton shrinks after laundry and your design might get badly distorted. Choose a good backing T-shirts are washed on a regular basis, therefore, the stab should be stiff enough to keep the embroidery in shape while not making a garment too uncomfortable to wear. Cutaway stabilizer is preferable because it doesn’t deteriorate as quickly as the tearaway one in the course of time. The fusible mesh is, probably, the best option. To hoop a T-shirt, cut a piece of stab larger than your hoop, sprinkle it with a temporary spray adhesive or use a glue stick, press your T-shirt to it and hoop the whole thing. Don’t forget that a stretchy fabric should never be drum-tight in the hoop! If you are afraid of the hoop burn, try to hoop the stab and glue your T-shirt to it. If you don’t have any special devices, the embroidery will require some acrobatics but it is possible. After you’ve finished the embroidery, remove the excess stabilizer by cutting it close to the stitching. If you have sensitive skin, covering the back side with fusible tricot interfacing might help. Use a topper Additional stabilization will make the embroidery look neat. Cover the embroidery with a piece of thin water-soluble film and baste it. The extra film will come off easily when rinsed with water. Always do a test-stitch Unless you’ve embroidered this design before, on the same equipment and with identical consumables, it’s won’t hurt to try it first. The fabric should be similar to the one you’re going to use for your project. A tip: keep your old T-shirts, they will make a fine testing range. Select a lighter design Heavy designs with a large stitch count often look and feel like a patch. Thin and delicate knitted fabric cannot support the dense stitching at the edges; there will be wrinkles no amount of ironing will remove. Lighter designs with open structure are better for T-shirts. Use the right needles and threads You’ll need a ballpoint needle that doesn’t cut through the fibers but gently pushes them to the sides. The smaller the tip, the better. Use 70/10 needle for lightweight fabrics, and 80/12 for heavier ones. For T-shirts, one should select a durable thread that will be able to withstand repeated washings without losing its strength, color or luster. Polyester threads meets all these requirements and is, therefore, the best choice. Tack before the embroidery Basting the whole thing prior to the embroidery will provide yet more stabilization. It keeps the water-soluble topping in place and also prevents the lower stabilizer from shifting. Press the embroidery from the back Having finished the embroidery, turn the T-shirt out and press it from the back side with an iron. Apply pressure gently, don’t make the iron too hot and use a pressing cloth.