I have raised this issue before and even posted 'conflicting' quotes from professional embroidery sites.

I see you've re-done your project and it looks great. I will also say that I use Kona Cotton fabric for my quilts and labels. Kona has a higher stitch count and is more stable, at least to me. Always had good luck with it. I would think your Egyptian would be just as stable. I also use a medium tear-a-way stabilizer. Glad to see, with your other post, that you were able to make adjustments you needed to get your project to work! Lots of great Cuties here who are so helpful. Glad you brought this up as I learned alot too.

1 comment

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

Yes thank you Ramona, it does look far better and I too have learnt so much. I will research Kona Cotton, it is not one I have heard about. Getting hold of Egyptain Cotton is not only difficult but expensive too. Sometimes I buy a good quality King size bed sheet for other projects, this works out affordable. I even dye it myself in a variety of patterns, it look fabulous and obviously accepts the dye with fantastic results. ~x~

Here is the final stitch out:

Okay stitching as I type. I starched both fabric and stabilizer, hooped both and have floated a piece of stabilizer underneath. I forgot to adjust tension, toddler so demanding brain no functioning. It is LOOKING GOOD so far....watch this space

2 comments

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

Okay ladies..all the flowers are now stitched and it is still looking good. If it looks this way when unhooped I will be a happy bunny.

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

OOOOOOOOOOOOoo yessssssssssss

I have stitched designs that looked like this when completed on cotton/poly blend fabric. I began using the fusible stablilizer back of the area to be stitched, hooping a lightweight cut-away, then lightly spraying the fusible stablilizer with fabric adhesive. I align and gently press the item to the hooped cut-away. After stitching, I trim to approx 1/8 inch, both the fusible and cut-away. This seems to work best for me on lightweight fabrics.
On your stitchout, it appears that the fabric pulled a bit with the slightly dense design used. The fusible, when pressed on carefully without stretching the fabric at all, seems to help tremendously to keep the fabric from puckering during stitching.
Angel

1 comment

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

I shall also try this .
Many thanks

There is one fabric from Joanne's that used to be called Symphony but is also there generically. It has 60% cotton 40% polyester approximately. It is great for costumes and barely needs ironing but for the life of me I can't embroider on it. It looks just like your picture. Is that the fabric you are using?

1 comment

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

sewmom
The fabric in the photograph is 100 % 200 count Egyptian cotton.

Oh Dear, well now I'm going to throw a spanner in the works and tell you that I don't like tearaway unless it is absolutely necessary to the specifics of the project.

I always use a medium weight good quality fabric type cutaway stabiliser under cotton fabric as it gives more support. There are special "no show" stabilsers that work really well under thinner cottons but still I use cut away.

Looking at your stitch out I would say that it is pulling, which is usually caused by the top tension being too tight and pulling the fabric in with each stitch. Make sure you use a new needle 75/11 is recommended for thin fabric. And I have just discovered my Designer Diamond very much dislikes Madeira bobbin thread, when I changed to Brother bobbin thread the stitch out improved dramatically. just a thought.

I do hope this helps.
HUgs and roses, Meganne

5 comments

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

Meganne. Thank you for your help. I am new to this. I have had this Brother Innovis 900 for almost a year and have only just come to use it. I only use Brother bobbin thread. I have tried the cut away stabilizer, but discarded this as it showed through my work and I could clearly see the outline, even though I carefully cut close to the stitches. I am using a new 75/11 Schmetz needle. I will look for the special "no show" stabilisers you mention, but I am so limited with most things where I live and generally have to buy on line which with shipping makes everything so much more expensive. (especially with all the flops I am turning out).



I think tension may have something to do with it and am on that point right now. So here I go, I will float the stabilizer I have and turn the tension down to 3. I will post results. I just have to lock the toddler in the cupboard for a bit ;0)....Joking
Thank you all
~x~

by meganne 28 Mar 2011

OH, and discussing embroidering on cottons and batistes with a very knowledgable teacher the other day she recommended starching the fabric, before embroidering it, would give far better results so this may be something to think about.

another point is to make sure you tighten your hoop really well so that the material cannot pull out.
I was taught to hoop it once, then un-hoop and hoop it again before stitching. What this does is help flatten the fabric between the top and bottom of the hoop and often you will find that with the second hooping you still have to tighten the material a bit more than you did the first time.

Another trick I have learnt is to wrap your bottom hoop with that rubbery material that is sold to put underneath things to stop them slipping, and I know this works really well. You can actually glue strips right around the edge of your hoop.

Elna hoops have a silicon seal and I believe that is the secret to why they embroidery so beautifully. The Diamond hoops have little metal clips to hold the hoop sections together and the fabric will still work loose.
Hugs, Meganne

by meganne 28 Mar 2011

AHA!!! There's your problem!!! Brother machines are notorious for needing their bobbin tension adjusted to stitch out properly. I have an Innovis 750D and I rarely use it because I am so unhappy with the way it embroiders.
I took it back to the dealer and after much discussion and comparing stitchouts done on the various machines he agreed the bobbin tension needed to be adjusted.

So then came the long process of Stitching out a BLOCK stitch text "HELP" in Capital letters using brown top thread and white bobbin.

I must have stitched that word 50 times, adjusting the bobbin tension after each stitch, out until I was happy with the result. I suggest perhaps you should do the same before you do any serious embroidery. I KNOW this will help.
Hugs and roses, Meg

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

Where on earth Megganne do I find the bobbin tension thingy and how on earth does one adjust it. I am soooo cross I told this shop what I wanted the machine for and to do and I looked at many others esp Janome and Bernina which were recommended, but he kept leading me to the Brother. No knowing a thing about any of them, I accepted his professional judgement and bought in good faith. I guess he thought I was a novice and would need to sew as well and probably would not understand any of it. He was no wrong there. Off to read instruction book.
~x~

by meganne 28 Mar 2011

I'm heading off up the coast now, will try and take a photo of my brother bobbin case and post it here later tonight with instructions.
I got my Brother for free when I bought the Diamond, I kept asking how come they could give away $1,500 machines but as soon as I used it I knew why.
Brother used to be top of the line for industrial machines, of which I had two, so I was really disappointed when I got this and was told by many other digitisers that the tension is Brother's biggest problem, cause we all know Tension is the leading cause of machinists' headaches.
Be back later..
Hugs, Meg

Okay then, lots of advice here. I am now going to work my way through the list and try everything which has been suggested. I have never tried floating the stabilizer, so this may work. I have used spray adhesive, but not with any better results. I have never tried iron on, so I will do that in a moment. I have neither doubled the stabilizer, so I will try hooping one and floating the other and any other combinations I can.

Alice my dear, thank you for the link, someone posted this a few weeks back and I have it stuck to my wall. I am clearly useless! But I will not quit.

Re tension, my machine is supposed to self adjust tension, but I will make a note of the current setting and and alter the top tension. I have no way of altering the bobbin, it does that itself, so Brother tell me. I assume the lower the number the looser the tension. At present I am stitching on number 4.

It is unlikely that I will use any other fabric than light weight cotton or cotton mix. I am using med tear away at the moment. I have tried the wash away but find this is worse. Okay then, off I go.
Thank you for all your answers and sorry for the few spelling mistakes I made in the original post. Only just noticed them. It is so difficult typing and with a toddler.

Are you sure it's secure and tight in the hoop? I did an umbrella (don't even go there!) and found that I had to add thickness to the sides, around the hoop, then cut out the center where I did the embroidery. It worked for me. Did the same thing with a light weight cotton and it was fine.

1 comment

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

Yes I think it is secure and sort of drum tight. Maybe it is as suggested here, a tension problem. I will give all suggestions a whirl and see how I go. I will post the results, it may help other newbies.
Thank you for your suggestion

You don't want a real heavy stabilizer because it will show through. As with knits, I would use an iron-on stabilizer (I have a mesh one from terradon embroidery) after using spray starch or sizing to firm up your cotton. Both sides, really make it stiff. Then I'd hoop some tear away, use some kk2000 sprayed on that, and put my material on top. Either use a basting stitch around the area, or pin it down. Other than the starching,I do this with t shirts, which can move and stretch all over, and have great results. Do a google search for Fred Lebow embroidery. He has been working with stabilizers for umpteen years, and you will find a bunch of articles from him.
Jo

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by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

Thanks Jo, the list is getting longer, but I will not be beaten and will most certainly try everything that has been mentioned.
~x~

for cotton or cotton mix you need a fusible cutaway stablizier and maybe a tearaway under the hoop (not hooped)

The simple answer is the less stable the fabric is (if it is a knit or very light) the more stable the stabilizer should be. After that it is a judgement call. you need to play with it and see what works. here is a very basic blog post that I wrote ages ago, I hope it helps.

Good morning,
Here are some things to try. Put in a new needle. I can't tell from the pic but if this is a knit, don't stretch the fabric when hooping, pulling will allow the fabric to become stretched out and wonky. This can happen with fine cotton, linen or silk fabrics. Also there are needles for knits and fine fabrics. you might decrease the density on your lettering or designs, if you have that
capability, if not a good rule of thumb is select designs that are light and airy for light and airy fabrics and dense designs for dense or heavy fabrics.Keep smiling it is all a learning process. :)

I agree with Mops about the stabilizer. I also only like to use cotton when I am sewing. I either hoop the cotton and float medium tearaway underneath or if I am embroidering on a collar or something small I hoop the tearaway and stick the collar down on the tearaway with spray adhesive. Is perhaps your tension a little tight? It must be really frustrating for you. Hope you come right Sarah.

It is light to heavy and heavy under light. But there is an extensive list Jrob posted a long time ago. I'll search for it and add the link.

I don't put anything under heavy jeans. I often starch cottons before applying a medium tear away stabiliser, then stitch the two together in the ring to make sure nothing shifts.
And we all have had results like this at one time or another.

Hope it is clear enough for you all

1 images:[1]

2 comments

by my3chis 28 Mar 2011

That's not that bad. Have you tried iron on stabilizer?

by wishfulthinking 28 Mar 2011

No I have not tried iron on. I have tried spray adhesive, but am reluctant to use as I do not wash my items. I think they appear to lose thier crispness if I wash.