Pique

[GCEMBROIDERY]

Ok I give up....I have been trying to embroider a Rotary wheel on a Pique shirt and it looks horrible. I have changed many things such as density (any less dense and the shirt will show through), type of backing, etc. I know there are experts out there who embroider Pique every day. The biggest problem is the design tends to be wavy. I have read many many articles on Pique and I have had little or no luck. I would greatly appreciate any help I could get.

[TinaK]

Ok, I will use a fusible no show mesh stabilizer if the design is under 8K stitches and then use a top water soluable stabilizer on the top so the stitches lay on top of the fabric.

Good Luck!

[GCEMBROIDERY]

It is about 10k stitches. I have never used a mesh fusible no show. That is one thing I will try. Thanks for your help. I have just started using my Amaya and it works great. I just need to work on me. Thanks again

[Big Dog]

I've never had a pique knit look good without using a water soluable topping.
It really does help prevent the stitched from sinking into the weave of the fabric.

[GCEMBROIDERY]

Well I am about to try whatever has been successful for everyone. My editing has become a never ending quest.

[signman]

The rotary club logo is similar to the Kiwanis 'K' logo in the globe-we have done a lot of them.
Mesh backing, water soluable top, and also create a background fill to match the design, 40 pt density or so-this will 'tie down' the pique knit and solvy on the top. Don't do lettering in low number density (like 3.5 or so, kick it up to 4 or 4.5) because the more stitches you try to put in one spot, the more that pique 'pile' is going to bite your design in the butt. Take one ruined shirt and cut it into pieces to fit the smallest hoop your design will fit in, and then start practicing with your underlayment and density changes. Also remember, the tighter the density, the bigger chance of a pucker...so loosen it up!
Good luck...it will work, just have to test until you get the right combination of density and backing!Fine detail-for the 'gear teeth' of the Rotary logo-instead of narrow satin stitch, try a running stitch with stitch length of 12 or 15...things like that.

[GCEMBROIDERY]

I will give that a try and let you know, thanks a lot!!

[Steve]

Can you take a picture of it and post it here so we can see what it looks like? tinypic.com is a good website to use for free. Copy and paste the link here. Also what polo shirt are you using? Some shirts just don't hold embroidery well. Jerzees and Fruit of the Loom seem to make the worst polos for embroidery.

[GCEMBROIDERY]

What I may do is digitize it again at a smaller scale as now they want a city and state on top and bottom which makes the design to large. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks Everyone

[flebow]

I would suggest one layer of the no show nylon diagonal nylon mesh (fusible or non fsible) w WITH A TEARAWAY BEHIND IT

http://www.lebowconsulting.com/stabilizer-reviews.htm mesh

ordepending on your stith vcount and density a 2 , 2,5 or 3 oz - one layer of these wet laid non wovens

http://www.lebowconsulting.com/stabilizer-glossary.htm wet laid


If you wwat samples pls contact mee offlist
W will gadly send them

Fred

[GCEMBROIDERY]

After digitizing the design over it did much better but there are small fills that are still bullet proof. I am going to increase the stitch length and decrease the density, which is currently at 4.0. The stitch length is now set at 45. The letters are on the fill and it appears they are pushing the fill into a ball. I am still working on it. Thanks for all your help.

[GCEMBROIDERY]

It seems that some of the smaller satin fills are puckering. What am I doing wrong as it makes the whole design look bad'

[signman]

Pique is one of the worst materials to sew on, do a 'search' for 'pique' here on the site and see all the threads about it...(haha, I made a joke)
anyways, biggest help I can give you is to use solvy on top, mesh on the back, and don't use tight density on lettering. If you have it at 3.5, kick it to 4 or 4.5, no small lettering with serifs, etc. As your fancy lettering tries to sew, it is trying to 'pull down' the pique 'rows' and that's where your puckering comes in. Tighter the density, the more it pulls the pique down and that puckers up. Also gives logos a chopped edge.
For satin fills, add a zigzag AND centerline underlayment-that helps tie down the pique and the extra underlay 'beefs up' your satin stitch to look better. Higher quality pique have a tighter pattern which also helps. But try solvy first...
test out different settings on the first shirt you do that looks terrible-I have a box full of different weights of pique to practice on...been there, done that!
Good luck...

[GCEMBROIDERY]

Thanks for getting back to me. Ok here is what my settings are for the Rotary design on the pique: I have a good under stich to start off to secure the design. I started from the inside and moved outside with the underlay. The next thing where there is a problem is the small fills within the wheel. I have the density set at 4.5 pt which almost allows the shirt to show through. I am using the default fill. The stitch length is 25 pt, which I reduced from 40 and that did not help. As for the letters they are .15 inches with the density at 4.5 pt. As far as backing I have tried several different kinds, the latest was poly mesh with a tearaway on top of that. They were both sprayed with temporary adhesive. The round design still wants to wave and pucker. I have tried stretching the shirt more and less. If there is any other information I forgot to give let me know. I sent the design to Melco to see what I am doing wrong. I have stitched it out on other things and it still wants to wave.

[GCEMBROIDERY]

Oh one, well maybe two more thing I did use solvy and have sufficeint underlay. The letters are block.