Hooping and stabilizing in computerized embroidery
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Introduction
Hooping
Correct hooping together with appropriate backing and pull compensation are important factors for creating embroidery that will stay flat (more or less) look like on the computer screen.
The snow plow test
Glide your finger on the hooped tissue. It should not create "waves"....
The drum test
Tap on the hooped textile. If it sounds like a drum you are fine. This applies to non-elastic tissues and elastic tissues that you stabilized (as you should)
Use of stabilizers
There are several types of stabilizers, e.g.
- Water soluble: Used for freestanding lace (FSL) and also as topping for some fabrics, e.g. towels
- Self-adhesive tear away: Used for heavy fabrics (but also lighter and softer ones with less good results since it is not very strong, but it is the most easy to use)
- Tear away: Medium-heavy woven fabrics and sturdy fabrics. This has to be ironed or glued to the fabric depending on the brand.
- Polyester mesh cut away: Used for T-shirts and similar
- Cut-away: pullovers and such
The Brother PR1050X Operation manual (p. 254) recommends fabric/stabilizer combinations of which we reproduce some modified excerpts:
| Fabric/Garment | No. of Backing Pieces | No. of Topping Pieces | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denim | 1 tear-away | None | Lower speed if problems |
| Terry cloth (bath towels) | 1 tear-away | 1 water soluble | Increase density and avoid small lettering. |
| Fine woven shirts | 1 tear-away | None | For high-density or highly detailed designs use two pieces of lightweight backing |
| Golf shirt | 1 cut-away | Optional | |
| Corduroy | 1 tear-away | 1 water-soluble | Use denser stitcher or denser/more understiches. |
| Lingerie or silk | 1 or 2 lightweight tear-away | Optional | Reduce sewing speed |
| Knitting (sweater) | 1 cut-away or adhesive tear-away | 1 water-soluble | Use tightly woven organza or curtain fabric in a matching color if knits have holes. |
| Sweatshirt | 1 cut-away or adhesive tear-away | Optional | Two layers for detailed designs |
| T-shirt | 1 light-weight cut-away or adhesive tear-away | Optional | Avoid stitch-heavy designs and make them low tension. |
As general rule:
- Any fabric needs a stabilizer. If you are lazy use at least the auto-adhesive one.
- Very small lettering needs topping on most fabrics.
- Fine fabrics should use cut-away stabilizers. These are nicer to wear and some offer extra stability.