Tips for Easier Multi-Placement Embroidery

May 21, 2010
By Steven Batts, Contributing Writer

It doesn’t happen often, but you may occasionally get a request to embroider a design that is larger than your largest hoop. Many people simply turn down these types of requests, but learning how to deal with designs that require multiple hoopings can open doors to various types of other jobs.

Sometimes multiple hoopings are not needed simply because of the size of the design or where it is placed. The most common cases are split-front designs, which are placed across the front of a button-up shirt, such as a baseball jersey. You can’t sew across the placket, so you have to put half of the design on one side and half on the other side.

To do multiple hoopings, there are three points that you must either find or create in order to have each part of the design line up correctly. These points are located on the garment, the hoop, and the design. If you can line these three points up, your work should yield great results.

The Garment
The line-up point on the garment can be anything that will help you align the second hooping with the first. I usually look for some sort of seam that I can use. In areas such as pant legs, the side seam is a great marker for aligning the second design with the first.

On split-front designs, the point is obvious: the edge of the shirt placket. The second design will go right to the edge of the shirt, while the first design only needs to go to the edge of the placket. I usually make the first design go a little further, which creates some overlap.

Some items, such as tablecloths or horse blankets, may not have a built-in guide like a seam. In situations like this, you can use sewer's chalk and make a line across the item to give you the reference you need.

The Hoop
Finding an alignment point on the hoop goes along with having an alignment point on the garment. The hoop is what you are trying to align the garment with. Most hoops have small molded markings that can be used as alignment aids. If your hoop doesn't have this feature, you can simply make your own markings with a ruler and a marker.

The idea is to align the mark on the hoop with a marking on the garment so that when have to move the hoop over and re-hoop, you can still align the item. For example, if you are doing multiple placements down a pant leg and creating a continuous design, you can align with the pant leg seam all the way down. You sew one design, move the hoop, align it with the seam and sew the next design. For split-front shirts, you simply align the hoop with the edge of the shirt.

The Design
Creating an alignment point in the design is a matter of adjusting the its starting point. Normally, the designs start in the center to make alignment easier. When you are embroidering multiple designs, make the starting point line up with a point from the previous design. The concept is that you are really creating one large design and splitting it into multiple pieces. So you need to find a place where the previous portion left off and continue from there.

When selecting the place to line up, look for a point or a corner in the design. These are easy to find when aligning the machine. Also, whenever possible, allow a little overlap between the two designs to avoid any noticeable gaps. If possible, pick a place where no one will notice if you're not perfect with framing. For example, if you are doing lettering, try to break the design up between words.

Multiple placements really aren't that difficult and they can open up opportunities you may have not had before. You just have to hit your marks.

Steven Batts, a consultant with 17 years experience in the embroidery industry, owns Righteous Threads, Greensboro, N.C., which offers digitizing, embroidery and machine maintenance services. Steven regularly leads seminars at ISS shows and is an industry speaker and consultant. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Steven at righteousthreads@gmail.com.



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