Ann The Gran Community

I would like to be able to do embroidery on light weight t-shirts like you seein retail stores.  I have seen some great designs but have had awful luck with embroidery because the fabric catches.  What can you suggest?  Do I need to use a special stabilizer behind the fabric or a certain needle and/or thread?  What tension do you recommend?

I am a beginner and haven't tried it yet;but, intend to and have been looking around for similiar info.  i was told  to use sticky back stabalizer.... hoop the stabalizer and lay the shirt over the sticky .... do not hoop the shirt because it is supposed to distort it and all the things you seem to have mentioned happening.  That is what I have been told.  Hope it helps.

You may want to check my blog on Endless Hooping for some tips.

AnnTheGran (ATG) will be carrying the bray you see in the photo shortly.  I hope within the week.  It is a simple but very useful tool for machine embroidery (ME).

You will want to check Ann's Adhesive water soluble stabilizer which is an excellent stabilizer for your issue.  I personally use adhesives rather than spray adhesive for many reasons, my main reason is that adhesives are hard to control and I never know if I may have too much on one area and too little on another.

I also recommend using a #75/11 needle (also will be available here at ATG soon).  A light weight fabric has special requirements, not the least of which is that the design not be too dense.  Heavy density will cause sagging and puckering.  When possible, stick to a simple design, and redwork, whitework or blackwork all will be good choices. 

Please do upload a photo of your issue, and then when you have created a solution, upload that photo too.  We all want to learn and we do learn from each other.  To post a photo, go to the 'reply' or 'write a new post' and you will see a toolbar with a small strip of movie film.  Click on the film and follow the prompts, it is really quick and easy.

Pat, The Avid Embroiderer

Hi Maurileo,

So far I have had the best luck with this method for light weight t--shirts

Hoop a sheet of Ann's water Soluble with Adhesive, carefully lay the area you want to embroider on,be careful not to pull or stretch the fabric any more than necessary,just lay it on there, carefully smooth it with your hand lightly to set the adhesive.

Don't hoop the shirt, it will stretch it, that is one of the main reasons that causes puckering. I too suggest a lighter type of design, but I have used some that are more stitch dense as well and they were ok. For a more dense design I take a couple of pieces of Ann's textured Nylon Cutaway and slip them under the hoop to give the t-shirt fabric more stability. when done just trim it as close to the design as you can without cutting into the the design threads, it is soft so it won't scratch you when it is done. Use as many pieces of the textured nylon cutaway as you need to, remember.....you can never Over Stabilize something.

Now for the top layer I use a sheet of Ann's Water Soluble Stabilizer not the adhesive one ,just the regular one. I also use a 75/11 needle for the same reason,it makes smaller holes in the fabric.

The trick with t-shirt fabric is to not stretch it at all, it is more the stretching of the fabric than anything that can cause it to pucker.

Good Luck and please feel free to posts pictures so we can see them. If I can help you further please let me know.

Judy  Stitchin' Shortcuts

Judy and I sound like a walking ad for ATG adhesive water soluble stabilizer!  We don't get a commission, I promise!

That stabilizer is head and shoulders above all the rest in that category.  You can use whatever you like, but the fact is taking someone's advise is usually better than trying to find something else that MIGHT work. 

ATG has quality products, and for best results, use the best tools and supplies you can afford.

Pat, The Avid Embroiderer

So true, we don't !

 I just know what works well. I won't recommend something that is not a quality product, as I too have bought inferior product that just does not do what they claim. These do! We are sewers just like you that have been "down the road" so to speak. (Gee, I just realized how old that made us sound) 

Use all the things that Judy and Pat said.  Sometimes the only thing that I do different is use a wash-tear away stabilizer on top.  Don't hoop it just lay it there.  This seems to give more sturdiness to the fabric.

Marge

I have been embroidering quite a bit lately on lightweight t-shirts. I find that since t-shirt fabric's all have some stretch the best bet is to go with a cutaway for the most wear and tear. I think t-shirts have a tendency to get a lot more wear than other types of shirts. I also find that they are the most likely to get tossed in the dryer by accident too. I always use a solvy topping, one or two sheet of polymesh (or better yet medium to heavy cutaway if I can get away with it not showing too much, depends on the color). I use the hoopless method and always baste around the hoop when possible.

This is just works for me. Sometimes when my husband helps with the laundry he tosses that t-shirt in the dryer and I have yet to have a problem with any puckering or distorting.

Nancy

I don't know just how you mean it catches. however you could try a new needle yours could have small burr on it. also try placing piece of water soluable stabalizer on top so it goes smoothly also helps keep your stitches on top of garment. sewpicky