Thursday, September 17, 2009


We all know that we use underlay to attach the base fabric to the backing so that the garment will not move within the hoop during the embroidery process, but did you know that there are a lot more reasons, some obvious and some a little more subtle.
They are:
To overcome fabric textures and patterns
To flatten the fabrics surface
To compensate for a loose top density
To create a 3-D effect

Standard underlay
Used to attach base fabric to backing
.1 to .25 in. column stitches use center run stitch
.25 and up add parallel satin
For fill stitches use lattice underlay

To compensate for patterned fabric surfaces
Edge walk adds structure to satins on fabrics with a surface texture such as twill, pique and birds eye knits, this will serve as a base for the top stitching and keep the stitches from following the grain of the fabric and causing a stepped look.

To flatten the nap of a fabric
Terry, corduroy, velvet and any other fabric with a nap require a cross satin underlay to flatten out fibers before you embroider your design to avoid fibers showing through the stitching
A water or heat soluble topping also helps avoid this problem.

To compensate for a loose density
Leather, sheer fabrics, lame and other delicate fabric can not support a normal density without tearing.

To create a 3-D look
To get coverage without raising your density place an inset satin underlay.
Multiple layers of satin stitch underlays can be used to give your embroidery a more 3-dimensional look
Start with a narrow satin and make each subsequent layer a little wider, usually three layers is sufficient.

You are only going to reap the full benefit of underlay if you first understand why we use underlay and which type is appropriate for your particular situation.

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Monday, September 14, 2009



We all have our favorite settings for creating lettering for different situations. For small lettering I like to decrease the density to 45 SPI and to add a single perpendicular running stitch as the underlay. For large lettering on a towel I like to use density of 65 SPI and a crosshatch underlay. You get the idea, and I am sure that you all have your own list of perfect combinations of settings that work just right for you. When you are creating your lettering using KPD Compositions you can save an unlimited amount of lettering styles, so that you can quickly and automatically call up the most perfect and personalized settings for the particular type of lettering you need.
Digitizing Lettering
When you run into a situation where the perfect font is not available it is necessary to digitize the lettering yourself. In this case the artwork you are working from is extremely important. If you are using the auto digitizing or semi-automatic function of your software to perform this function make sure that your artwork is 300 dpi or higher and the artwork is at least the same size of your finished embroidery or larger. The best method to use however is manual digitizing. The reason for this is when digitizing lettering the way in which your column stitches are divided up or branched is crucial for the best translation of the artwork into embroidery. When you are looking at an embroidery of something organic, such as a flower or a leaf variations from the original artwork are usually hard to discern, variations in lettering are almost always easy to spot. Everyone knows what lettering is supposed to look like and any variation from the norm is very obvious.
Size
The size of the lettering that you choose will also determine how you digitize the individual letters. You probably have noticed that just about every software manufacturer offer at least one small script and block font. The reason for this is that when you are sewing out lettering at .25 inches or smaller the rules that apply for embroidering larger lettering don't necessarily apply. Digitizing the corners of the lettering by inputting the individual stitches is the preferred method.
Fabric
When you decide to embroider the same lettering design on different fabrics you need to make sure that you create it for the most challenging fabric. for example if you are digitizing for denim and pique, digitize your lettering for the pique. You will end up with a higher stitch count but you will be assured that it will embroider well on both.
Pull compensation
If you are if you are digitizing lettering to sew out on fleece and twill, I would suggest that you digitize the design for twill and to automatically increase the pull compensation for the fleece application.
Underlay
As in the case of pull compensation I would digitize the lettering with a single center run stitch underlay and then as I increased it in size add first an edge run and then at over .75 inches also add a zig-zag underlay.
Visually correct adjustments
Distorting keyboard lettering
If you look at the example of a standard computer font "EGGSALAD" you will notice that the rounded letters "G" and "S" are slightly larger than the others so that they will appear o b the same size when the word is viewed as a whole. The example of the same word in small embroidered lettering takes the rule a little further, not only is the "G" and "S" larger but so are the letters that have horizontal column stitches such as the "D" and the "E"
Many logos utilize a standard font with only minor changes to either the first letter or letters within the wording. Before you decide to digitize the lettering portion of the design see if you can use the lettering portion of your software to create the lettering and then select the individual letters that need to be altered and adjust them one at a time.
Lettering is just like every other portion of your design, you need to follow all of the same rules as you would when digitizing any design. If you start with good artwork, whether you decide to use keyboard lettering or digitize the lettering from scratch while taking fabric, and sizing limitations in mind your results will be successful.

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Wednesday, September 09, 2009


We often talk about embroidery software and which icons do what, but in the end, it’s not all about the software, it’s your abilities that make the real difference!
If you have a real understanding of the basics of embroidery you can really make any software program do what you need. It's what you feel most comfortable using that should determine your final choice.
Let's take a look at what those basics are.

Density
It is very easy to take density for granted. When you power up your software, it will automatically choose a density for you. It could be the default density or a density based upon the fabric that you chose at start up of your new design. This is a reat point of departure but there are so many more things you can accomplish with various different densities.
If you are trying to blend two or more colors together you have to take density into consideration, because when you layer colors over colors the density will quickly build up and the reult will be a thick embroidery which will crinkle on the edges and be very uncomfortable to wear.
If you know what color fabric you are going to embroider upon you can reduce the densities of those areas of your design that are the same color as the base fabric.
If th column widths within your design vary dramatically you would need to increase the densities for the wide columns and reduce the densities of the narrow ones.
Overlapping and Pull Compensation
Using the automatic pull compensation settings of your software can solve many of your overlapping problems, however there are situations in which you will find that you need to make some changes manually. Two of the examples are illustrated above, in both the beachball and the star designs. In the example of the star the last small stitches that would have created the points of the star have been removed and replace with a single running stitch place in a perpendicular position to the satin stitches. If the satin stitches were brought to the end they would have been so small that they either would have caused thread breaks or created a hole in the fabric.
In the case of the beachball, if all of the stripes had met at the top of the ball it would have caused a hole or at the least thread breaks in the last couple of stripes. I exaggerated th overlap to keep the blue stripes from placing needl penetrations in the same place and I kept the yellow stripes from meeting at the top so that they would not cause a hole.

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