ImagesMagUK_January_2021

www.images-magazine.com JANUARY 2021 images 95 TIPS & TECHNIQUES Raising your 3D game Dominic Bunce, of embroidery digitising specialist David Sharp, shares his top tips and advice for mastering 3D embroidery Satin stitches are best for 3D embroidery Using the same colour foam as the thread will help disguise any foam that is pushing through If the column width is beyond 15mm, your machine may struggle Add an extra bit of pizazz with glow-in-the-dark thread T ypically, you work with a stitch density of 0.15 to 0.17 with 3D embroidery, but this will vary, depending on the design and product. Satin stitches, as used here, are best suited to 3D embroidery; a tatami fill will compress the foam and doesn't give the same raised effect. We have achieved effective results with a unique step satin fill area. Don't be in a hurry! Slowing your machine down will help with the final quality of the finished product. No underlay is used as it compresses the foam, and you should aim to use as few travelling run stitches as possible between sections. When designing for 3D , it is important that any open ends are closed off with a cap. This ensures that the foam is cut underneath it, allowing you to tear it away easily at the end without the risk of unravelling threads. Foam colour: It is always recommended to use the same colour foam as your thread colour as this helps with any small parts of foam pushing out. Top tip: A quick blast of a heat gun will also cause the foam to retract slightly, pulling in any part of it that is showing through. A good column width is important (not every design will lend itself to 3D embroidery) and you may find you need to loosen your top tension, depending on the garment and machine being used. Ideally, a 7mm+ column width works great with 3D embroidery, up to a maximum of 13-15mm. At 13-15mm, your machine will clunk from side to side as it lays down a satin, but it is workable. Beyond this, the machine will go very slow and may not lay down the stitch at all, depending on your machine make and settings. For a truly eye-popping finish , why not use glow-in-the-dark thread? We used Madeira Luna glow-in-the-dark thread in this example, along with Madeira's white Hard Body Builder 3D Foam and 75/11 needles. www.davidsharp.co.uk View a video of Dominic’s 3D embroidery