Quick Solutions for Embroidery Mistakes

This is the sixth and final lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions! I hope you have picked up some tips to use in the next design that doesn't turn out the way it should!

The first step when you are stitching embroidery designs is to eliminate as many possible problems that could occur. Keep your machine blown out and free from thread and lint in the bobbin area and tension discs. Oil your machine according to your instruction manual to keep it running smoothly. Have your machine serviced regularly by an authorized dealer.

Keep an eye on your machine as it is stitching. This doesn’t mean that you have to sit and watch every stitch, but be aware and listen as it is stitching. Some designs may need babysitting, but most will allow you to be doing something else between thread colors.

When the needle breaks is not the only time to change the needle. Titanium needles should be replaced every 10-12 hours of stitching or approximately 400,000 stitches. If the needle is causing thread breakage or thread pulls in the fabric, change it before something worse happens like a broken needle and a hole in your fabric.

Pay attention to where you moved the design in the hoop - up, down, left or right or rotated the design - clockwise or counterclockwise. Most machines will have numbers on the screen that will inform you as to where you moved the design. Usually a positive or negative number will be assigned to the vertical and horizontal movement of the design. Each number represents one point of movement. The positive and negative values will inform you as to vertical movement going up or down and horizontal movement going left or right. For example: You move the design down 20 movement points and your vertical movement is -20. The negative tells you that you moved the design down and the 20 means you moved it down 20 points. Always write the numbers down to where you moved the design or rotated the design. If power is lost to your machine, you can always return to the exact placement!

Use good quality fabric and garments. Fabrics that are lower in thread count will be more likely to create puckers in the fabric or holes with a dense design. Garments need to be able to hold a design and not weigh it down. Fusible interfacing can be applied to lighter weight fabrics and garments. Using spray starch will also give the fabric or garment more body and helps prevent puckering and misplaced outlines. Use quality embroidery thread and bobbin thread designed for embroidery. These threads will flow smoothly through your machine and achieve the design that looks great! Stitch professional digitized designs. No matter your fabric, thread or stabilizer, if the design itself is incorrect, your finished project will never turn out the way you want it to.

Use the right combination of stabilizers with the fabrics you are stitching. Follow the guidelines for cut away, tear away, aqua film and badgemaster. Knits, fabrics with stretch and large density designs (30,000+) need cut away stabilizer and possibly aqua film as a topping to prevent puckers, design distortion and misplaced outlines. Cottons, denim and lighter weight designs (30,000 or below) can use tear away stabilizer and depending on the fabric, usually won’t require aqua film. Badgemaster backing needs to be used on towels and other projects where you don’t want the backing to show. Towels, velvet, flannel and other fabrics with a nap require aqua film so the stitches will not sink into the fabric.

Do consider the time and materials involved in fixing the design. If it requires 2 hours of ripping on a $5 shirt, it may not be worth the time involved to rip the design. However, if the shirt is a birthday gift for a granddaughter’s birthday tomorrow and this is the only shirt you have at midnight, you may want to consider the ripping job or find a quicker solution. So keep in mind the project value and time involved!

Every mistake or flop that happens will be different and may need to be fixed with a unique method. The design size and density, fabric stability, threads and stabilizer all will effect the way your design is fixed. The most important thing to remember is to keep your cool and let your mind drift to different ways of how your project can be saved. Pressing is the first thing you want to do. Pressing can eliminate puckers and improve the overall look of the design; always press before you proceed to other solutions.

Markers, colored pencils and crayons can fix color mistakes. Instead of ripping the color that you don’t like, try coloring it with a marker or pencil. If your bobbin thread is showing on the front of your design, use a fine tip marker to color in the white sprinkles. If your fabric bleeds on white lettering, try using a bleach pen on just the thread to get the thread back to white. Be careful not to bleach your fabric!

If the fabric puckers around your design, try spray starching the back of the fabric and design. Sometime this will help to eliminate some of the wrinkles. Stipple or use other quilting methods to eliminate puckers around a design. Fuse interfacing to the back of a design to eliminate a rough texture or threads that feel scratchy.

Misplaced outlines can be repaired by filling in with straight stitches or satin stitches with your sewing machine. If outlines are completely off, create an applique with another fabric to place over the bad design. Fabric corners and garment hems and sleeves tend to hide underneath the hoop without your knowledge until the design is finished. Hems may need to be shortened or fabric added.

Ripping is sometimes necessary, unfortunate, but true. An outline may need to be ripped in places where it is misplaced. Try to avoid ripping on knits; you will usually end up with some holes in the knit. Consider the type of stitch before you start ripping. A satin stitch is simple to rip, but a step fill stitch will be more complex.

Mismatching borders, ink spots and fabric flaws can be covered up with 3D flowers, leaves, butterflies or other designs. Free standing lace designs can be stitched on badgemaster and tulle. Try stitching various other designs on cut away, polymesh or felt, cut out the designs and apply where needed. Try using crystals, jewels, beads and buttons to cover up mistakes.

As hard as we try to prevent errors from occurring, they will happen. And be guaranteed that the same mistake will probably happen more than once! But don't get discouraged when mistakes happen. There are many ways to fix them and you may come up with some creative ideas that you may want to use again in the future! :)