Ju Jitsu Gis

[Genie Zenowich]

Does anyone have advice for sewing on Ju Jitsu Gis? These are not the regular Karate Gis, but the really thick Judo type. I've been doing jacket backs for several guys and have run into some problems. Some are thicker than others, (not the guys, but the gis) and even more difficult to hoop. The designs are 100,000 plus stitches. Been using the 16" square wood hoops. It's like hooping a rug. I've got the bottom hoop as loose as it will go and still have to apply lots of pressure and sweat to hoop the garment. (major double seams) Just getting the hoop on the machine is a wrestling match. A card table with a wooden stool on it supports the hoop mostly level and holds up the gi. Even though the tracing showed the design was well within the hoop, my needle hit the hoop. I'm guessing that the weight of the gi pulled forward and brought the hoop just close enough to strike. I had 88,000 stitches completed with only 12,000 to go. I decided rather than risk the needle bars, to unhoop the jacket and use the fast frames to finish the last row of letters. It took forever lining up to be even with the already sewn out letters.

I used a fill stitch thinking it would be less likely to pull the thread than a satin stitch during a fight. (The gis are used to pull and maneuver the opponant, so they are very strong.) The fill stitch didn't cover enough, so I ended up doing a satin stitch anyway by hand to fill in the fill stitch. The second gi got all the way to the letters again, and I kept getting axis errors, rebooting and moving back to the correct stitch. After several of these wonderful events, somehow the thick fabric forward from the hoop got caught in the needle case mechanism after a trim and when the machine moved, it unhooped the garment, so back to the fast frames. This one I didn't line up as well, so I'm planning on doing a black fill stitch over the white lettering and doing the lettering all over again. (It's a black gi.)

The fabric broke 14 needles on the 2 gis. Some were on the needle plate, I suspect because the weight of the fabric helped pull the needle. I used both 75/11 and 80/12.

Questions: 1) What's the best way to hoop a big jacket back with such bullet proof fabric?

2)Is there a special needle for this kind of dense fabric?

3) Does anyone else out there in Amaya land work with these kinds of gis?

I went to the Arnold Fitness Festival Grappling tournament yesterday and my gis looked fantastic next to all the screen printed and embroidered patches. I was passing out my card left and right so there seems to be a nice niche there. Any advice that might make the embroidery experience less difficult, would be greatly appreciated.

I do think my hooping fee is going up. It took 2- 15 hour days to do just the two gis. Once I find a method that works, I'm sure I won't take so long.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
Genie Z

[Juli in Kona]

What a nightmare! I haven't seen your design, but is it possible to do it in two hoopings? Maybe the bottom part first and then the lettering at the top separate? Or, maybe the design is just a tad to tall. Maybe just a quarter inch shorter would solve some of the problems.

Perhaps slowing down the machine would avoid other problems. If the machine is not trying to move the heavy jacket so fast, maybe it would sew better.

Or you could combine part embroidery, part patch.

It is wonderful to have a niche. But you had better be able to do these designs without so much trouble or it will be a constant nightmare!

Juli in Kona

[Rod or Sharon]

Yoooooo Genie Z,

Giving old Stitch a real workout, eh?

It really sounds as if you need to look into getting one of the tabletop add-ons that Melco sells for your machine to help support the large hoops.

Do you have the hoop limits disabled?

Beings you are having a difficult time hooping the garment, is it "tight" in the hoop?

What speed are you sewing at?

I suspect what may be happening with all the broken needles you are experiencing, is that the material is somewhat loose in the hoop, the hoop is large, the combination of the two is heavy, the sewing speed starts the hoop to bounce a bit and the needle may not be clearing the material as it sews certain parts of the design causing the needle to be deflected, etc, etc.........

Are you using Sharp pointed needles and not Ball Points? I would assume you are? 80/12 should be plenty big enough...I have yet to really find that I can't use a 75/11 to sew anything with.

Sounds as if you have one of those special situations to deal with....have you thought about using a longer screw or bolt in the hoop clamp so that it could be opened up more? Would make it eaiser to hoop...

The X-axis errors are coming from the weigh and/or drag of the hoop and garment or possibly if you are streching the limits of the design vs hoop size, the hoop may be hooking up on the front of the sewing arm mometarilly...

Poor old Stitch.. ;-(

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Genie Zenowich]

Poor Stitch. I didn't mean for it to sound like it was his fault. I'm sure it was operator error.

I never thought of using a longer screw for the hoop. The fabric was a little loose and I didn't use any backing. The springing back would explain the stress on the needles. I was sewing at 700 while in the 'danger' zone and 1100 every where else (with no breaks).

It would be really neat if I could get ahold of the gi back before the collar is sewn on. I'm going to pursue that some more. I'm thinking that by getting a better hooping(the longer screw) and perhaps dividing up the design, it all might be a lot easier. I'm really happy with how my embroidered gi's look compared with the usual patches out there in the ring.

Thanks, Juli and Rod for working on my puzzle for me. Both of you made excellent suggestions and gave me "Why didn't I think of that" moments.

I don't know how I would manage without this group. When ever I get stuck, Amaya Land people are always there to give a helping hand, encouragement and a much needed chuckle. And when I'm not stuck, someone else is and the group teaches us all. It's better than the water cooler, since we can chime in any time of the day and get answers.

Thank you,
Genie Z (and Stitch).

[Wishes]

As far at the design, I think you might consider using a twill for part of the background so you aren't sewing so many stitches. Applique is a great way to eliminate stitches. Go to www.stahls.com and take a look at some of their products to get an idea of how it works, if you haven't done it before.
Margaret