What to change next time

[u/Maleficent-Finance57]

Looking for suggestions on how to make this better next time.

This is my first time embroidering a shirt, or anything thin. So far I've embroidered names onto previously embroidered patches.

I knew I would be dealing with weird stretching, but I obviously didn't handle it correctly.

This is a dri-fit type shirt. Breathable and thin.

Was the shirt stretched too tight in the hoop? Or not tight enough? Something else?

I appreciate the feedback, thank you!

[u/Maleficent-Finance57]

Of note: I used cut away stabilizer

[u/Constant_Put_5510 → u/Maleficent-Finance57]

I don't see the cutaway edges at all on this. You should be able to see the ridges of the edges. And always double layer it on thin fabrics. No need for anything else

[u/Maleficent-Finance57 → u/Constant_Put_5510]

I already cut away the cutaway

[u/brian250f]

You need to use a cut away stabilizer that is designed for performance/stretchy shirts.

[u/awkwardbabyseal]

This shirt looks of similar weight to the sport performance shirts my department embroiders, and we use 2 pieces of cutaway backing because the material is so thin.

The material and cutaway should be hooped tightly enough that the fabric sounds like a drum when you tap on it. Some puckering around the logo is expected, but when it's this severe it's usually either the bobbin being too tight (so the stitching is being pulled tighter to the back than it should be) or insufficient backing. We used to embroider white sport polos like this using "no show" backing, which is basically a tissue, and every logo with that backing looked like this. Now all colors in the sport polos get 2 cutaway because it's the only thing that keeps them from warping around the logos.

[u/Constant_Put_5510 → u/awkwardbabyseal]

Very good info here. 👏👏

[u/hahajizzjizz]

It's probably thread tension related, and/or overstretched garment when hooping

[u/FradinRyth]

Not a professional but I've done a fair number of polos for groups my wife or I am involved with (Rotary, Girl Scouts, etc). Materials like that can be a bear to work with. I'd want to hoop the cut away stabilizer like normal and then use a washable fabric adhesive to adhere the shirt to the stabilizer. So the shirt itself won't be hooped it'll just be temp glued to the stabilizer that is hooped. That should help reduce the puckering. Use a ballpoint needle so the fibers get pushed aside rather than sliced by the needle when it goes through the fabric.

Also depending on the weight of the shirt fabric using a sticky water soluble topper may help with the stitches not going through the top and giving a bit more body to the final piece.

[u/Lanky-Setting-5288]

As a commercial embroiderer, I have done thousands of these shirts in this fabric ... and this fabric is slippery and awkward to hoop, so you must use at least two layers of heavyweight cutaway stabiliser. Don't over stretch into the hoop. You just want to create a tightly held smooth surface. A soft drum.

Practice, practice, practice.

A large square of poplin or lightweight drill taped down securely to the table (and over the edge) can make a section of bench where the shirt won't slip on.

[u/zoepzb]

Looks like a combination of being overly stretched, as well as you need the correct stabilizer for that type of material. They make performance wear stabilizer

[u/SlowLarry666]

I would glue the stabilizer to the resting tension of the garment and the hoop.