When people spend money on embroidery, they are looking for a professional, classic look that represents their business well. If you are delivering work that looks sloppy, your competition is going to win every single time.
Here are 6 tips for embroidering left chest logos straight from the pros at ColDesi, that are going to make your work stand out.
TIP 1 – Choose the Right Backing
On colmanandcompany.com we offer two main types of backings – CutAway and TearAway. However, there are different styles, weights, and colors of both. Let’s discuss the main differences between the two.
TearAway Backing
Now the biggest difference between these two backings is the removal process. So with TearAway backing, when your embroidery is completed you can simply tear away the backing. Now, TearAway backing is ideal for items where the back of your embroidery is going to be seen, like hand towels. It is also great for items that don’t need much-added stability, like hats.
CutAway Backing
For CutAway backing, you have to trim off the excess backing with scissors. This backing is ideal for light-weight garments that need extra added stability like polyester polos and thin t-shirts.
TIP 2 – Determine if a Topping is Needed
A Topping is a piece of material that pushes down the fibers of the item you are sewing on, allowing the embroidery to be pushed to the top. You place topping on top of your garment and let your embroidery machine sew on top of the clear material. Below you will find a list of materials that you should use topping with.
VANISH Water Soluble Topping
Our VANISH Water Soluble Topping is great because it can easily be removed with a couple of sprays of water. First, you will tear off any large pieces, then we like to use a wet toothbrush to scrub away any of the remaining material.
It is recommended that you use topping if you are embroidering on:
- Terrycloth
- Fleece
- Shag
- Faux Furs
- Sherpa
- Microfiber
All the materials listed above have fluffy pieces that branch out from the material itself. The topping pushes down these fibers so that your embroidery can be more visible and does not get lost in the fluffiness.
TIP 3 – Using a Spray Adhesive
When applying backing to the inside of a garment it is super helpful to use a spray adhesive, like Tempo Spray. This is basically a can of sprayable glue that will give your backing a slight adhesion to your garment. Then, when you go to hoop your shirt, you don’t have to worry about your backing slipping and sliding all over the place.
Steps for using Tempo Spray
1. Grab a piece of backing that is slightly bigger than your hoop but not bigger than the inside area of your garment.
2. Spray one side of the backing AWAY from your machine and other materials.
3. Place the backing inside your shirt with the sticky side up.
4. Smooth out the area of your shirt that is on top of the backing. This will give the backing a slight adhesion to the shirt and make sure your hooping is wrinkle-free.
TIP 4 – Determine Logo Placement Before Putting your Shirt on the Embroidery Machine
Perfect left chest logo placement can set a part a professional embroiderer from an amateur. However, it can take tons of practice to nail down your logo placement skills.
So, to help you out, we put together a perfect placement guide. This guide walks you through how to measure your shirt and find the perfect placement for left chest logos on a variety of different shirt styles.
In unison with the perfect placement guide we recommend the following products:
Once the perfect placement for the center of your logo is found (using your ruler) mark the spot with our Chako White Marking Pen. Don’t worry – this is water soluble and will go away.
Next, when using the Allied Gridlock Hoops, you can find the corresponding gridlines that match your white mark. Then, when you place your shirt on the embroidery machine and trace your logo, you know exactly where the center is supposed to line up.
TIP 5 – Prevent Hoop Burn
Hoop burn is the annoying mark that is sometimes left behind on a shirt after it has been “hooped” for embroidery.
Basically, hoop burn happens when you hoop a shirt too tightly. Your hoop is rubbing on your shirt when being locked in place and this can cause a mark.
Allied gridlock hoops are a great way to prevent hoop burn because:
- Premium high-grade plastic doesn’t cause as much friction with your shirt’s fabric.
- These hoops feature a metal knob used for loosening and tightening. This allow you to hoop your shirt loosely, then go and turn the knob to tighten the hoop in place before embroidery.
TIP 6 – Use Only Great Digitizing
What most people don’t realize is that bird nesting, thread and needle breaks often happened because the design you are sewing out has no rhyme or reason. This means your digitized file is not following a logical sewing order and this can cause major problems for your machine.
With hand-done embroidery digitizing from ColDesi Graphics you are going to get digitized art files that are done very methodically. Our digitizing experts will make sure that the embroidery will not waste any time by sewing on top of thread or crossing over the design for no reason.
Good digitizing is going to:
- Save you time
- Save you money
- Save you from unnecessary headaches
- Give your customers a more comfortable shirt
- Make your customers happy! They will come back for more and tell their friends about you too!
How Do You Want to Represent Your Business?
We are sharing these tips with you so that you can stand out from your competition and provide your customers with the most professional looking left chest logos on the market.
These are tips that come straight from the pros at ColDesi, who have been supporting and training embroiderers just like you for over 20 years!
You can find all these products on colmanandcompany.com and if you need further assistance in finding what you need you can live chat with one of our pros right then and there!
The post 6 Tips for Embroidering Left Chest Logos appeared first on Avancé Commercial Embroidery Machines.