Images_Digital_Edition_April_2019

www.images-magazine.com APRIL 2019 images 51 KB TIPS & TECHNIQUES top and from the centre out to the edges, so as to maintain stability and achieve the tightest registration from colour-to-colour. However, fewer embroiderers tend to realise that the height of the cap crown, the level of structural support in the cap and the type of cap all play a part in the finished size, underlay style/ settings and even the sequence in which elements stitch. Any garment that has something peculiar about its construction or manufacture – from slippery, lined jackets and puffer vests to bags with heavy seams or supports – may cause a digitiser to change settings or to insert speciality stitch elements to enhance the finished quality of the design. Telling and showing a digitiser where your decoration meets the garment will help them to make adjustments that will help you embroider more easily, from speciality basting stitches to gaps that account for those thick seams. The universal solution Without these three items of information digitisers will generally aim to create ‘universal’ files in the vein of stock designs. The problem is that in the absence of specific directions they will be forced to make assumptions that may not suit the actual garments on order. My ‘universal’ target used to be a medium-weight cotton piqué polo shirt. Yes, those files work on many fabrics and surfaces, but, for example, they are far from ideal for today’s polyester performancewear. Rather than having to live or deal with an imperfect finished piece, it is far better to spend time on your initial communication; ultimately, providing clear, detailed information is far less time-consuming than repeated sampling and off-site edits. Moreover, your customers will love the quality of their embellished garments as much as you’ll love the time you save. Erich Campbell is an award-winning digitiser, embroidery columnist and educator, with 18 years’ experience both in production and the management of e-commerce properties. He is the programme manager for the commercial division of BriTon Leap. www.erichcampbell.com Knowing the colour combinations and the material specs makes all the difference between these two executions of the same design; elements are added or removed, colour changes omitted and sizing/ sequencing altered to make the best design for knit hats and for tonal-variant hats. Without that information, all designs would be the heavy, fully-filled version complete with extra colour stops seen on the knit hats. The outcome might be similar, but highly inefficient at best Material specs can also include the kind of thread you intend to use. This logo utilises 60wt thread; this fine thread is fantastic for fine text, but requires 25% higher densities to achieve the coverage of standard 40wt thread, something your digitiser will have to account for Structural underlay and increased densities help embroiderers get complete coverage on highly contrasting colours Credit: All photographs courtesy of the author Speciality grids are great for heavily ribbed knit hats, particularly where thin satin strokes might otherwise ‘fall’ into the grain of the fabric. In person and viewed at a direct angle, this mesh disappears into the fabric for an attractive, debossed effect