Tips for Successful and Beautiful Embroidery
Proper Hooping
If not properly hooped, embroidery designs will be far from perfect. When hooping the fabric, make sure the fabric is taut in the hoop. Tighten the hoop securely. If the hoop is tightened too much, it may leave what is called a "hoop burn". This is when the fabric shows lighter marks where the hoop has been placed. On most home embroidery machines this doesn't happen, but it can and does happen with the large commercial machines. If you find that your hoop doesn't hold your fabric tightly enough, it can be helpful to wrap the inner hoop with medical tape! This grabs the fabric and holds it in place.
Proper Tension
Correct thread tension is essential in beautiful machine embroidery. If your upper thread tension is too tight, you may be able to see the bobbin thread pulled through to the top of the embroidery. If the upper thread tension is too loose, it may cause the embroidery thread to "bunch up or make large "loops in the embroidery. If either of these happen, adjust your upper thread tension. It's also possible to adjust your bobbin tension, but it's not recommended unless you contact the manufacturer of your embroidery machine first. The bobbin tension screw is usually located on the case which holds your bobbin.
Proper Backing
Every design should be embroidered with backing. The backing is placed beneath the fabric and should be hooped along with the fabric. There are several different types of backing including tear-away backing, cut-away backing, and water soluble backing. These come in different weights for different types of fabric. If you are using a heavy, sturdy fabric (such as canvas or denim), you won't need a heavy-weight backing. Sometimes it's necessary to use a couple layers of backing.
Tear-away backing: Usually used on items that will not be worn.
Will leave rough edges that are uncomfortable when against skin.
The lighter the fabric, the heavier the backing you should use.
Cut-away backing: Used on items that will be worn. Softer edges.
Again, the lighter the fabric, the heavier the backing.
Water-soluble backing:This can be used beneath the fabric or on top of the fabric.
It dissolves when sprayed with water, and lightly rubbed away.
Using water soluble backing on top of certain textured fabrics
(such as terry-cloth or towels) keeps the embroidery stitches from
sinking in to the fabric.
Needles
Sometimes when a needle becomes old and worn, it can break the embroidery thread.
If your embroidery thread breaks often, first check to make sure the upper thread tension isn't too tight, and make sure the machine is threaded properly. If this doesn't help, replace the needle.
