Embroidery has traditionally been used to decorate clothing and household furnishings including table linens, tray cloths, towels, and bedding, but you can literally embroider anything as long as it is made out of an evenly woven fabric and can be held firmly in the hand or in a special embroidery hoop or tapestry frame.

 

Embroidery is typically thought of like a needle and thread that is stitched on fabric, although it can encompass beads, metal, and other objects. To secure the fabric and keep it taut, it is stretched between two hoops—most of the time.

 

Embroidery glossary

 

Appliqué

French term meaning applying one piece of fabric to another. A cut piece of material stitched to another adding dimension, texture and reducing stitch count.

 

Backer/Stabilizer

Materials, generally non-woven textiles, which are placed inside or under the item to be embroidered. The backing provides support and stability to the garment which will allow better results to the finished embroidered product. Backings come primarily in two types: cutaway and tear-away. With cutaway, the excess backing is cut with a pair of scissors. With tear-away, the excess is simply torn away after the item is embroidered. Additional types which are dissolved either by water or heat also exist. For all of these the terms backing and stabilizer are often used interchangeably.

 

Bobbin

A bobbin is a small spool of threads inside of the rotary hook housing. The bobbin thread actually forms the stitches on the underside of the garment. The bobbin on an embroidery machine works in the same manner and for the same purpose as on a standard sewing machine.

 

Digitize

(Often mispronounced as "digitalize.") The computerized technique of turning a design image into an embroidery program. Special software is used to create plotting commands for the embroidery machine. The commands are transferred to the machines logic head by a designated embroidery "language."

 

Fill Stitch

Fill stitches are a series of running stitches sewn closely together to form broad areas of embroidery with varying patterns and stitch directions.

 

Hoop

A clamping device used to hold the backer and fabric in place in the machine.

 

Running Stitch

A running stitch is one line of stitches which goes from point A to point B. A running stitch is often used for fine details, outlining, and underlay.

 

Satin Stitch

Also known as the zig-zag stitch by which a line, border or edge is produced by thread being alternately stitched to either side of a baseline. Satin stitches are generally limited to a maximum of 1/2" in stitch length before some alternate technique such as split stitching or fill stitching must be used.

 

Underlay

A stabilizing pattern of embroidery which, if used, precedes the main body of satin or fill stitching. It consists of one or a combination of running stitches for centering, edging, paralleling or zigzagging the design area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Glibbex Promotional we have the experience and skills necessary to tackle just about every type of job that comes our way. With Glibbex Promotional, clients know exactly what to expect - professionalism, efficiency and exceptional results.