Avoiding puckering

[Liberata T.]

I am about 1 year behind on the topic of embroidery on quilts and am looking for some advice on avoiding puckering of the fabric around the design. I am using an iron-on stabilizer on the background fabric an am using a lightweight tear-away stabilizer in the hoop. I have tried 1. pinning the backround fabric to the hooped stabilizer and 2. using 505 to adhere the fabric to the hooped stabilizer. The fabric is smooth and not stretched in the hoop. Everything looks good as the design stitches out. The tension doesn't appear to be a problem. When I remove the tear-away, I have puckering.

Advice?

[Liberata T.]

Libbi, maybe a watersoluble stabilizer? It sounds like the tension when you tear the stabilizer creates the pucker.

Best of luck, Lissette

[Jo H.]

How large is the design?

What are you stitching it on (fabric content)?

Are you pre-tensioning your hoop before you begin?

Let me know and I'll try and help. Embroidery is my life.

[Liberata T.]

I am using 100% good quality cotton. My designs are about 3" x 3". I am not familiar with the term pre-tensioning. I am not putting the fabric into the hoop but securing it to stabilizer that is hooped. It is secured either by pins or 505 adhesive. My thread is either cotton or trilobal polyester, no rayon. I am using a bobbin filler in the bobbin. I have a Bernina 630.

[Jo H.]

I am using 100% good quality cotton.

Cotton fabrics can be some of the most challenging fabrics so don't beat yourself up too much. It's takes a lot of sampling to learn how embroidery effects different fabrics. Any fabric can be embroidered on but the designs may need to be tweaked a little.

My designs are about 3" x 3".

Some designs may have problems with them. When it stitches, does the design stitch an outline of the design first and then does it put down underlay stitches that hold the fabric in place. Or, does it put down a few stitches and then start embroidering the design (kind of going back and forth between a few or no stitches and then embroidery).

Are there a lot of stitches in the design? Different fabrics allow different amounts of stitches per inch. For example: some denim fabrics will accept fewer stitches than others. Imagine a fabric that is very dense like a batik. There are already a lot of threads that make up the fabric. If you try to cram a bunch of embroidery stitches into the same fabric, you will have problems.

I am not familiar with the term pre-tensioning. I am not putting the fabric into the hoop but securing it to stabilizer that is hooped. It is secured either by pins or 505 adhesive.

Pre-tensioning is when you test your hoop on the selected fabric to make sure you have the tension screw set to the proper tension (material is too loose in the hoop). In the home embroidery market, it is common to be taught to hoop your fabric and if it's a little loose, just tighten the screw a little or pull the fabric just a smidge to remove any slack. This is incorrect. You should never ever pull the fabric after it's hooped. If the fabric is loose, remove it---tighten the screw a little and rehoop until you have a nice taughtly hooped fabric. Think of a tamborine---nice and smooth with no wrinkles--not too tight and not loose....just right.

If you can email me a picture of the hooped fabric and then again after it has been removed, it will help me as I'm a visual person. My email is mailto:[email protected]. Although, I wouldn't recommend hooping with just pins as there is still a lot of movement possible. Is there a reason why you are not hooping the cotton fabric directly in the hoop?

My thread is either cotton or trilobal polyester, no rayon. I am using a bobbin filler in the bobbin. I have a Bernina 630

Sounds good. I love trilobal poly and have used cotton for
redwork with no problems.

P.S. Try also using a cut away stablizer on the back. Once you pull away the tear away, the edges do not have any support.
.

[Liberata T.]

Thank you for the advice you're giving me.

The designs do not seem too dense for the fabric. They stitch out by color and put down an underlay before stitching out each section and stitching the outline before jumping to the next section or stopping for the color change.

I have been warned about the dread "hoop burn" :evil: so much that I am using this alternative method of securing the fabric to the hoop. When I did do hand embroidery, the work stayed in the hoop so long that most designs had the dreaded oval or circle around them. When I do put the fabric in the hoop, I do not tug on the fabric but rehoop it. I didn't think it was too wise to tug on the hoop when it was on the module. Tugging while fine tuning the placement only seems to pop the fabric out of the hoop. I learned not to do that very early in my learning curve.

I will do some test designs and send you photos this week.

PS. I live in Switzerland and the instructions that would be provided by the dealer or privately are not in English. I can get by but it makes it very difficult for the instructor or for me to ask precise questions.

[Jo H.]

"I have been warned about the dread "hoop burn" so much that I am using this alternative method of securing the fabric to the hoop. When I did do hand embroidery, the work stayed in the hoop so long that most designs had the dreaded oval or circle around them. When I do put the fabric in the hoop, I do not tug on the fabric but rehoop it. I didn't think it was too wise to tug on the hoop when it was on the module. Tugging while fine tuning the placement only seems to pop the fabric out of the hoop. I learned not to do that very early in my learning curve. "

Hoop burn is a reality but only if the hoop is too tight and you really force the hoop and fabric down into the other hoop. I wish you were here because I could show you so much in just 15 minutes of time. I may try and follow Bridget's instructions for using a camera to make a short movie so you can see first hand so to speak.

Hooping for your embroidery machine should never leave a mark. I would like to gently push you to experiment with trying it. But, always practice hooping before and if it's too tight, don't push the hoop down. Loosen the screw and try again. After a while, you will get a feel for where the screw needs to be for nearly any fabric. The only fabric that I do not hoop is leather. And for that I use a stablizer that I moisten with water to make it tacky and then carefully place the leather on it aligning as I go.

I love...love...love hand embroidery too! I was taught by a wonderful woman from Germany. I was very young and she was very strict with me and I'm glad she was now. But, she would never allow me to leave a hoop in my work once I was done with the lesson. We had a little bit of a language difficulty but it was quite clear to me when I was doing something that I shouldn't. ops: Because of her wonderful teaching, I have never had hoop marks on any hand embroidered projects. Next time you are working on a project, just make sure you remove the hoop after your stitching session and you will not have hoop marks.

P.S. For embroidering on your machine, you may have a tiny shadow of where the hoop was. This is normal and will come out after a washing. If you do not wish to wash it, you can also steam the item right where the shadow hoop mark is and it will disappear.

OR, next time you finish your liquid clothes softener, put water inside the empty bottle and shake. Then poor the liquid into a spray bottle. Add more water if needed to fill the spray bottle. Now instead of steaming the item, spritz the area with the liquid water/softener combination. I use a dry lint-free cloth to blot away any excess water droplets. It's magic and once the area dries, the hoop shadow is gone! An added benefit is the item smells wonderful...

[Sherry B.]

Yes, JoJo, I definitely think you should do a video - in fact, many videos!!! You are a natural teacher and I am sure there are many of us who have a lot to learn about doing embroidery. I had never heard of how you said to hoop - I will definitely try that!

[Sherry B.]

some good advice here, wish I was close enough for a demo, :lol: will try the tips as well, but as you say, better to see and feel than read!
Lynn in sunny UK

[Hannelore N.]

Mmmmhhhh...... Maybe you were taught by one of my grandmothers.

I wonder what they would say if they could see what kind of 'hoop' I use for hand embroidery these days. Instead of the traditional round hoop I use a squarish type that comes in several sizes (my biggest one is 17x17 inches and used for hand quilting) called Q-Snaps. I find it a lot easier to secure fabric in these plastic frames and the tension can be adjusted verticaly and horizontall by gently twisting the bars.

But even when using Q-Snaps, the teaching of my wonderful German grandmothers lives on, and I take the fabric out after every session.

Lorchen

[Hannelore N.]

I am NOT a good girl; I know better but many times I do not take my work out of the hoop. I use that same kind as Lorchen.