Stretching the Limits- Embroidery on Stretchy Fabrics

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:21:00 GMT

By Jimmy Lamb

If you were given the choice of sewing on a denim shirt or a t-shirt, which would you choose? That’s a no-brainer! Most embroiderers would choose the denim shirt, as it is typically easier to hoop and yields higher embroidery quality. Of course, that is no accident – denim is a very stable fabric, while a t-shirt is made from a knitted fabric, which generally is “stretchy” and flexible in nature. This makes it much more difficult to hoop and sew. But knit fabrics are a staple of the embroidery industry, so the challenges must be overcome in order to be successful in this business.

The characteristics that make sewing on knits so difficult are the same ones that make the material so popular with consumers. Knits are composed of interlocking looped stitches, which provide a fair degree of stretch and flex, making them the ideal choice for creating comfortable clothing. In addition, knits tend to shed wrinkles well and don’t unravel when embroidered.

However, knit fabrics are not all created equal; they come in a variety of textures, weights and fiber contents. Here are some examples:

Firm Knits – These knits are not very stretchy and can almost be treated like wovens. Examples include double knits and Raschel knits.

Lightweight Single Knits – These have a moderate stretch. Examples include tricot and jersey knits. Jersey knits are commonly used in lightweight polos and t-shirts.

Interlock Knits – These knits are heavier and thicker than single knits and have a fair amount of stretch. They are used in heavier grade polo shirts and t-shirts.

Textured Knits – These knits tend to be heavyweight with textured surfaces and have a moderate amount of stretch. Examples include knitted terry and velour, sweater knits and fleece.

Two-way Stretch Knits – These are unique in that they stretch both in length and width, whereas the other categories of knit have considerably more stretch in one direction than the other. Two way stretch knits tend to have a large amount of spandex fibers and are usually selected for activewear such as bathing suits and dancewear.

On Top of It All - Cap Embroidery Side Hooping, Method #2

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:57:00 GMT

Clamping systems, such as the ones manufactured by HoopTech, have revolutionized the embroidery industry, simplifying difficult hooping jobs and even making formerly impossible tasks quite doable. Hoop Tech actually offers two distinctive windows for doing the left and right side of a cap. However, some of the standard square windows work just as well.

The first advantage of a clamp over a tubular frame is sewing area, as it offers more than the tubular frame does.

The second is that the hooping process is much easier, as it's done on the machine. Simply open the clamp, slide the side of the cap in, and then lock the clamp down.

One other nice thing about a clamping system, is that it's not limited to sewing on a cap side. Using different size clamp frames, the system can be applied to many difficult hooping applications, therefore providing multiple solutions to various embroidery challenges.

But it all comes down to cost versus benefit. If you do a lot of cap sides, then a clamp is a reasonable investment. If not, then you may want to stick with the tubular system, though its much more tedious.

PulseToday Embroidery blog : Embroidery

Stretching the Limits- Embroidery on Stretchy Fabrics

On Top of It All - Cap Embroidery Side Hooping, Method #2