Vickie, I wonder if you are stretching the t-shirt - when you iron on the poly mesh?

I use a mesh cut-away in 1 or 2 layers - depending on the density of the design - with a light spray of adhesive - I don't hoop the t-shirt - just the mesh cut-away - then pin the t-shirt to the stabilizer and stitch away - then cut away the stabilizer.

I do like Shirlene but I use a washaway sticky in the hoop and stick the shirt with the iron-on mesh to the sticky. I also baste it all down before stitching. Inadvertantly stretching the fabric when you iron on the mesh will make it pucker - so will a really dense design (1 piece of mesh and 1 piece of tear-away may not be enough to hold the number of stitches in the design). The other thing that can make it pucker is a poorly digitized design.

I, like Shirlene use 2 layers of tear away criss-crossed. Place one left to right and then one top to bottom. Don't overstretch the T-shirt fabric as the design will be distorted. I also sometimes put a WSS on top to stop the stitches disappearing into the T-shirt fabric. Have a couple of practices on an old T-shirt of your husbands etc. till you find a way that suits you. Good luck with it all love and blessings Chris

I use Sulky KK2000 Temporary spray Adhesive and attach a piece of cut away poly mesh to the inside of the shirt by turning it inside out and laying the front where the design will go over my ironing board. I'm very careful not to stretch or pull anything. Just smooth the mesh to the inside with your open hand without pulling. I then turn the shirt right side out and hoop the shirt along with the poly mesh again NOT stretching, but tightening well in my hoop. Then I float a piece of tear away under the hoop once I get it into my machine. After I'm finished I iron on a piece of "cover the back". It is the same fabric you see on the inside of purchased babies clothes. No problems. (Cover the back is the specific name of a brand, you can also use, Cloud Cover, or just an iron on tricot.

I agree with the others. I think you are pulling your shirt too tight. I sew on t-shirts all the time and all I do is tearaway in back, adhesive spray and then if it looks like it might shift on me I will pin the edges. I have to say though, I DO NOT hoop my tshirt.... When I started out I did, but found not hooping is much easier on the shirts. Hope that was a little helpful. hugs, Terre

I agree with what the other say. I also use a ball point needle and have never had a problem. Let us know how it goes. Sarah

Hope you are getting the message Vickie. Do everything possible to keep from stretching the knit. I use the iron on thena heavy cut away and like jrob I hoop , smoothing with hand, no stretching. With the heavy cut-away I do not float. I also cover the stitching with an sofr iron on to keep from scratching.Depende on thickness of design as to whether or not I use WSS on top. Emblibrary has excellent advice in projects about knit fabric./Lillian

I have had a lot of trial and error with t-shirts, so after all of them and several years later, I think I get best results as follows: Hoop only a light weight cut-away stablilizer. Iron on a small piece of fusible to the inside of shirt where design will be stitched. Spray the fusible with K2000, align, and attach shirt to the hooped cut-away. Place a piece of wss on top to keep stitches from sinking into the soft knit. After stitching design, I trim the fusible and cut-away to 1/8 inch around the stitched design.
This method has done away with most puckering and the design still looks nice through repeated washings. Hope this helps.
Angel

I think what you are going to find out eventually is that you will need to use the Trial and Error method until you find what works for you. All of us have found our method and are comfortable with it. ;)

I use cut away stabilizer and basically follow the instructions at Embroidery Library.

How many stitches are in the design you are stitching on the shirt?
You can use 2 layers of the Fusible poly mesh for a denser design.
Fuse the two layers so one layer is running up and down and the next layer running side to side so it forms a cross +
Make sure to cover the whole area that will fit in the hoop.
One layer of fusible mesh will hold about 8,000 stitches. 2 layers holds twice as many.

Also you can then float a medium weight tear away under the hoop when you start to stitch.

When fusing the poly mesh to the t-shirt, make sure the t-shirt is flat and not stretched out.

Lay the fusible mesh on it and then press the fusible to the shirt by placing your iron on the fusible then lift the iron and place it back down on the next spot and continue in this fashion untill all the fusible is fused to the shirt.

If you iron back and forth with the iron it will stretch the fabric of the shirt.

Use 1 layer of Light weight water soluble solvy on top of the shirt to hold the stitches above the fabric while stitching.
Use a size 75/11 or 80/12 Ball Point embroidery needle.

EastWitch2

Hi Vickie, I do lots of Tshirts for my friend's ice cream shop. She has lots of teenage workers and they love the ice cream scoops on their shirts in lots of flavors. This is how I do it. Do not stretch the fabric. I hoop one layer of peel and stick stabilizer, with the sticky side up. I peel it, and stick the t-shirt on it just where I want the design to be. Do not stretch the fabric. You can reposition it a couple of times without losing the sticky :-) When I get it right I float a piece of pre-ironed cut away stabilizer under the hoop. It works great. The only tricky part is removing the sticky stabilizer from under the cut away, but it eventually washes away anyway. I do about 30 of these every summer :-) Ice cream anybody?

Hi Vickie hope you got your answer. T shirts can be
tricky. Where in Alabama are you from? Maureen in
Mobile, Ala.

Wow!! Thank you for all the responses!! The design I had the most trouble with was Design #: 79407 from this website. It is a really pretty design, but was a nightmare on the stretchy t-shirt. I think it has over 10,000 stitches...maybe too many for the knit shirts? As soon as I started stitching I could see the t-shirt being pushed by the embroidery foot!

I see that you have your answer. Just wanted to welcome you to cute. This is a really great place. DeVon

I only use cut-away. Must be of similar weight to your fabric. Can use a temporary spray adhesive as well.

There is a tutorial on the Floriani website that shows how to stabilize knit fabrics such as T-shirts.
It has pictures on the right side of the page and you can click on each for a closer look.

The Stabilizers shown on the Tutorial are the Floriani Brand stabilizers but you can use any other Brands that have the same type of stabilizers.

Scroll down the page and read all the information and click on the pictures.
Link below.
EastWitch2

A warm Welcome to cute.
Hope you are having fun.

I see that you have your answers Vickie, just want to welcome you to "cute" - hugs Yvonne