Athletic Mesh

[Caren Maffucci]

I am doing a run of cheerleader outfits, which are made from athletic mesh - the kind with the open holes in it that is typically used for football jerseys. It's the stretchy type - not the stiff kind. Does anyone have experience decorating onto this fabric? I'm concerned that it won't hold the design. Should I just use 2 layers of cutaway behind it to stabilize it? I'm almost afraid that I'll literally cut a big hole out of the garment. Any advise would be appreciated! Caren-

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Caren,
Wow, Anchorage, Alaska. Bet it's cold up there!
As for your athletic mesh, you bet you'll need some form of stabilizer to support the stitches. I do recommend two pieces of cut-a-way however you will probably be able to see the white backing through the holes in the mesh. I would then recommend using the polymesh backing as it would be semi transparent but if you really want to get creative... run to your local material store (or Walmart) and pick up some rather stable fabric the same color as the athletic mesh to use as a stabilizer.
I once tore a hole in a black athletic mesh cap and wound up using some black iron-on adhesive patch material I picked up at Wallyworld (Walmart) late one evening. Wouldn't you know it, this cap wound up looking better than all the rest of the caps in the set.
Also, use a ball point needle as this will tend to not cut holes as easily in the frail/stretchy mesh.
Best of luck to you.
PS. We had a temperature of 76F today down here in Southern Louisiana. What's your temperature up there? Google Earth has pictures of your town without snow on the ground. Go figure?
Ed Orantes
Melco Tech & Trainer
504-258-6260

[Caren Maffucci]

76!?! You're killin' me Ed! This weekend the Idiarod got off with the ceremonial start on Saturday here in Anchorage, and then the offical start today in Willow AK. Apparently the weather is good for the doggers because we've pretty much been in the 20's, so I can report from this part of the world that thus far Global Warming hasn't shown its face here yet!

As for the athletic mesh - I didn't get your message in time before I had to get them on, but we were thinking in the same way. I have black backing - which I love and am glad that I had for this project - so I used 2 layers of 3oz black cutaway, applied it using spray adhesive to help the stability(which I don't like to use much) and the I also used black bobbins. I reduced the density (actually increased the # to 5) and also removed most of the underlay stitching to decrease the frequency of needle pentration to the fabric. Although I don't know which positions on my machine are outfitted with sharps or ballpoints, I did change the main color needle to ballpoint just to again reduce wear on the fabric. Everything really ran great so I'm very pleased. Thank you so much for the reply - it makes me think that I'm starting to think like an actual embroiderer!

Enjoy your sunshine! I haven't been to FL yet, but hope to get down there for a golf vacation. Maybe I should plan that now for next winter!

Thanks again Ed... Caren-

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

Sounds like you know where your at when it comes to embroidery.
Here's a recommendation for your needles.
Once a needle is removed from it's pack, it's hard to determine whether it's a sharp or ball point unless you have a super duper magnification system or you are Roland Irish. (OH! Gottcha Roland)
When you need to buy more sharp needles, ask for titanium coated as they are more likely to hold their point longer since that's what you want from a sharp point. And when you buy ball point needles, buy the regular needles.
The titanium (sharp) will be amber or "gold" in color and the ball point will be "silver".
Now, at a moments notice, you can tell whether you have a ball or sharp point needle on a particular color thread.
BTW... Florida is just plain hot. I've driven down to Miami a few times and man is that boring. Now here in Louisiana, we've got the kind of humidity that's worth writing home about. Good food too. In fact, I just had some boiled crawfish earlier tonight. Lucky me.
Ed