Images Digital Edition DEC 2018

KB TIPS & TECHNIQUES www.images-magazine.com 54 images DECEMBER 2018 especially with a heat-press pillow or heat-press foam to selectively raise the print area while allowing protrusions to drop away. Just make sure closures and tools can take the heat, too. Taming texture Bags with tight, coarse weaves and rough surfaces can disrupt your stitching, binding the needle or creating uneven edges and coverage as the fabric’s threads deflect the needle. The resultant rough or ‘sawtoothed‘ edges may not be distracting in simple designs with large elements and low colour contrast, but may detract from the finish of those designs with fine satin details or in any design where the colour contrast between bag and thread is pronounced. To cut through the coarseness: 1. Use sharp needles A medium ball-point needle serves a great deal of apparel, but coarse weaves deflect ball-points, causing a stepped-edge effect. A sharp needle passes through base yarns rather than around them, avoiding deflection. 2. Use structural underlay Edge-walk or contour underlays just inside the finished width of satin create a ‘rail‘ on which the topstitching can catch; stitches hang on these rather than pulling inside the intended shape and force them to follow a shape’s edges rather than create a stair-stepped edge that tracks the weave of the substrate. 3. Pre-decorated appliqué If areas are rough but accessible, you can use appliqués rather than adhering patches. Embroider detailed designs on durable, fine-grained material and include a straight-stitch cut-line around your design. Cut and apply the appliqué panel with a thick satin border to cover and capture the cut edge. The direct embroidery border looks smoother and more integrated than a loose-edge patch. Heat seal adhesives and a quick heat press can make these appliqués truly look like part of the bag. Durable designs Bags are doomed to be dragged in and out of cars, dropped on floors, and run into rough surfaces. Bag decorations must account for some abuse. 1. Digitise durable stitches Consider using split satins or fill stitches rather than long satins that are likely to snag. This wine tote immediately screams trouble. While the felt is well able to accept detailed embroidery, the narrow tubular shape is not best suited to embroidery without specialty machinery. We might have managed a small logo in the neck of the tote, maybe 1.5“ in diameter, but the company culture demanded bold logos for their promotional gifts. This meant that print was a natural choice to get the most decoration area covered This huge tote looks like a dream to embroider with its fully open top and sides, but there are still some difficulties to contend with. When you look at the close-up of the strap you can see both the seriously coarse texture of the material and the thickness of the straps – you definitely won‘t want to hoop close to the five layers of canvas in these thick handles. If you are trying to decorate close to them, you‘ll have to clamp the bag or use an adhesive hooping method. [Image courtesy of Celeste Schwartz] It‘s easy to see how the thick strands that make up this natural fibre tote have pushed the ball-point needle I used back and forth, leaving a rough, toothed edge. In the case of this tone-on-tone design based on a piece of Viking-age art, I chose to allow for this rough-edge to elicit a rustic hand-crafted feeling. While this edge quality may be fine for fashion or bohemian pieces, this definitely wouldn‘t fly for contrasting colours or corporate logos