Katherine Soucie Exploration in textiles, print media and digital technology

Hoop Sizes:

Machine embroidery hoops are available in a variety of sizes. They are machine specific and must be designed for the machine you are using.

The size of the hoop you use will be determined by the design you are embroidering. The closer the hoop size is to the design, the less likely there will be any movement of the fabric. Movement of the fabric can result in the final stitches being poorly located on the design among many other things such as possible needle/ thread breakage, puckering, etc.

Stabilizing:

Stabilizing is used to add rigidity to the fabric while it is being stitched. The fabric needs to be held stable so that all parts of the design will be in their proper position.

One of the most common tell-tale signs that the fabric was not properly stabilized is that the outline does not align with the rest of the design. However, this can create some interesting effects if you are trying to achieve a one of kind print or are planning to layer the material with other processes.  Experimentation is very important as long as you don’t cause too much stress on the machine, needle and thread.

Hooping Alternative:

Hooping stretchy fabric may cause the fabric to stretch in the process of hooping. some items may become distorted in the process of hooping. In these incidents, it is best to hoop the stabilizer and then adhere (glue or stitch( ie/ baste) into place)  the fabric to be embroidered to the stabilizer. Sticky backed stabilizer is a perfect solution. Be sure to totally smooth the fabric that is going to be embroidered.

Placement :

Placement templates are available and often come with machine embroidery hoops. Often it is helpful to print the design and play with the placement before hopping the design. Machine embroidery hoops include placement marks on the inner ring of the hoop to assist in placement.

Top Stabilizer:

Trying to embroider loop terry cloth is a perfect example of why you might need stabilizer on top of the fabric. Water soluble stabilizer or Heat Away stabilizer are perfect solutions. Both of these type of stabilizer do the job of holding nap or fabric loops allowing the embroidery to stitch without the fabric poking up throughout the design.

Experiment:

Embroidery designs on scraps will allow you to utilize these materials in future projects or serve as a learning tool/reference as well.  If you choose to keep them as a learning tool then I suggest mounting them in a book and keeping notes.  This is very important as this will a) help you avoid machine any mistakes  ( or repeating any for that matter)  b) allow you to recreate that design exactly as you did before.  Also make notes in regards to stabilizers used, type of needle and thread, as well as any information regarding type of fabric, stitch length, etc. etc.

When you experiment, this allows you to experiment on a variety of fabrics without ruining materials, garments ,etc.  Trust me when I say it will build your confidence and knowledge when it comes to textiles and embroidering

Finishing:

Cutting away and tearing away stabilizer can end up being a disaster if you cut the fabric. Take your time and cut carefully. Cut way traveling threads first and then the stabilizer.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Instead of writing a long winded posting on stabilizers. I came across a few websites that I thought would be of interest to share.  There are hundreds of sites that are available but I thought these sites compiled enough information that wasn’t too overwhelming.

I plan to post my own thoughts on this subject in the future but in the meantime here goes…….

Fabric types vs. Stabilizers

Sulky Stabilizer

Making sense of stabilizers

Tips for hooping and stabilizing

Hooping Q&A

So I came to the conclusion last week that in order to properly begin the documentation process on my progress with the embroidery machine that I should provide everyone with a one on one session on hooping.

What is hooping you ask? Well, here is your introduction.  It may look easy to everyone but trust me, it requires tenacity and basic knowledge of textiles.

Hooping is as vital to the embroidery process as is the overall embroidery itself. Hooping your materials allows the fabric to remain taut and static throughout the embroidery session.  If not hooped properly, the material will move and shift creating inconsistencies in the image.  The simplest way to think of hooping, is that the hoop is acting as your presser foot as the machine embroiders. It is the only thing holding your fabric in place.

First you must select the hoop according to the size of your design. Keeping in mind that you must consider the placement of the embroidery in correlation to the overall design you are working on. This is very important, especially if you plan to embroider onto a garment  or anything that is not a flat 2D piece of textile.

Next separate the hoop.  It has two parts. One sold piece and one that has a screw mechanism. This mechanism enables you to control the tension…very important!

From here, separate the two pieces and lay your reinforcement material ( there are four basic stabilizers on the market, in this session we used a product called Tear Away) over the hoop part that has the screw mechanism. Make sure that the your unscrew this piece slightly. This will help not only create even tension in the long run but not ruin your fabric. If not unscrewed properly it can lead to leaving  a halo (or scaring as I like to call it) on your fabric. This cannot be removed. What it is essentially doing is crimping the fibres of the cloth which leaves a permanent crease.

Next, lay your fabric down over top of your stabilizer before you will insert the inner hoop. Once you have snapped the hoop into place you then tighten the hoop and pull the materials around all sides of the hoop until your tension is even on all sides and feel like the skin of a drum. Flip over the hoop to check and see!

Once your tension is perfect you are ready to begin embroidering!!!

You will know if your haven’t hooped properly if the image does not align properly or if your fabric begins to pucker.

I found a great website on hooping and stabilizers for those who are looking to review more information on the subject.  Hoops and Stabilizers

I will create my own posting on stabilizers and alternative stabilizers shortly.

In the meantime, check out my gallery in association to this posting, it will allow you to visualize this process more clearly.