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Moderated by Pyrose
Posted on: 2/17/18 10:23 PM ET
I'm new to machine embroidery (well, embroidery for that matter...), and have a little project. This was the first thing I've ever embroidered, in fact, on a machine that I just got today. I'm trying to embroider:
1st • 2018
on a 1" wide polyester grosgrain ribbon, for race medals. I tried two different stabilizers - medium weight and soluble both with a temporary spray adhesive. The top one is cutaway, the bottom two (still drying) were the soluble material. Oh, and the ribbons in the picture are 1.5" wide, but the final will be 1".

I don't have a photo of the back, but I'm unsure what to do with it. The thread is kind of messy where it starts/stops, and overall I think it needs some sort of covering. I could cut a short strip of ribbon and sew along the sides. Is there some sort of fusible covering I could use? Could I somehow fuse a short strip of ribbon over the threads?
Thanks!
John
1st • 2018
on a 1" wide polyester grosgrain ribbon, for race medals. I tried two different stabilizers - medium weight and soluble both with a temporary spray adhesive. The top one is cutaway, the bottom two (still drying) were the soluble material. Oh, and the ribbons in the picture are 1.5" wide, but the final will be 1".

I don't have a photo of the back, but I'm unsure what to do with it. The thread is kind of messy where it starts/stops, and overall I think it needs some sort of covering. I could cut a short strip of ribbon and sew along the sides. Is there some sort of fusible covering I could use? Could I somehow fuse a short strip of ribbon over the threads?
Thanks!
John
Posted on: 2/17/18 10:25 PM ET
Also - I believe I can adjust the letter spacing in the machine - IMHO the 8 is too far from the 1. But, I'm trying to tackle one problem at a time.
Posted on: 2/17/18 10:28 PM ET
And... the text isn't evenly offset from the ribbon edge - that I can solve by careful placement of the needle. These were some quick tests and I'm still trying to get a hang of the precise placement screen.
Posted on: 2/17/18 11:39 PM ET
What I would do: take a length of the same ribbon and stitch the two pieces together along both long edges.
Curious as to what others will come up with.
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Curious as to what others will come up with.
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Oops, forgot what I was going to put here.
Posted on: 2/18/18 0:37 AM ET
Embroidery Library has a whole bunch of you tube tutorials, including how to embroider on ribbon.
And I agree, sew another ribbon on the back.
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And I agree, sew another ribbon on the back.
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Heidi
I love, love, love, love, love sewing! :-D
I love, love, love, love, love sewing! :-D
Posted on: 9/2/18 1:39 PM ET
I'm wrapping this project up, and figured I'd post a photo while in-progress, and once I have the medals all sewn up I'll also post a few finished pictures.
These are the first place ribbons being embroidered:

Somewhat annoyingly, when I put a space in the machine wants to put a single line of thread in, though I suspect that is by design.
I ended up doing some tests, and am using tear-away stabilizer. It seemed to be the best balance between ease of removal and cleanup (dissolvable left a sticky residue, cutaway would have taken too long, using fabric spray also left a residue).
The ribbons warped a bit once embroidered, ironing them helps, but overall they look OK when assembled. They are a pain to get in the hoop, but once done it goes pretty smoothly.
John
These are the first place ribbons being embroidered:

Somewhat annoyingly, when I put a space in the machine wants to put a single line of thread in, though I suspect that is by design.
I ended up doing some tests, and am using tear-away stabilizer. It seemed to be the best balance between ease of removal and cleanup (dissolvable left a sticky residue, cutaway would have taken too long, using fabric spray also left a residue).
The ribbons warped a bit once embroidered, ironing them helps, but overall they look OK when assembled. They are a pain to get in the hoop, but once done it goes pretty smoothly.
John
Posted on: 9/2/18 5:31 PM ET
The stitching looks nice, if you get a chance try some iron away stabilizer instead of water soluble. I think it gives a cleaner finish and keeps thread sheen. The line between where you put a space is probably a setting in your machine about jump stitches.
Good luck your off to a nice start with your ribbon.
Good luck your off to a nice start with your ribbon.
Posted on: 9/2/18 9:24 PM ET
Thanks! I'm really happy with my machine - made an embroidered tool roll holder, sewed a tiny apron for a 3D printed award - embroidered the "company" logo on it (https://www.thingiverse.com/make:462239) and a few other things... but this ribbon project has really been the primary use so far.
The medal ribbons are two-color - white thread on green, and metallic gold on red/white/blue. The white thread was a breeze to embroider with (Gutermann #20 100% poly)... but the gold metallic (#9990, 100% poly) periodically snaps. It's almost like it breaks apart as it is stitching - from what I can tell the thread is half-tinsel. And when I ran low on one spool the thread had a curl to it that was causing snags in the feeding mechanism... had to hold the thread as it fed into the machine.
These breaks have taught me how to jog through stitches to move the machine back to redo an area that needs restitching, though I wish I could tell it to stitch from stitch # to stitch #, I don't think I can "program it" like that.
-- Edited on 9/2/18 at 9:25 PM --
The medal ribbons are two-color - white thread on green, and metallic gold on red/white/blue. The white thread was a breeze to embroider with (Gutermann #20 100% poly)... but the gold metallic (#9990, 100% poly) periodically snaps. It's almost like it breaks apart as it is stitching - from what I can tell the thread is half-tinsel. And when I ran low on one spool the thread had a curl to it that was causing snags in the feeding mechanism... had to hold the thread as it fed into the machine.
These breaks have taught me how to jog through stitches to move the machine back to redo an area that needs restitching, though I wish I could tell it to stitch from stitch # to stitch #, I don't think I can "program it" like that.
-- Edited on 9/2/18 at 9:25 PM --
Posted on: 9/3/18 3:10 AM ET
metallic thread always a challenge even when it all goes well. Every machine a little different but the i think the 'best' but very general advice is to slow your machine down with metallic thread.
Nothing like getting a drama with embroidery to force you to learn your machine the only good thing about them is you get over any fear of working with it.
I was so cautious with my sashiko machine and still managed to jam it in the beginning after a couple of times i was over it, i'm a lot more fearless with it now.
Nothing like getting a drama with embroidery to force you to learn your machine the only good thing about them is you get over any fear of working with it.
I was so cautious with my sashiko machine and still managed to jam it in the beginning after a couple of times i was over it, i'm a lot more fearless with it now.
Posted on: 9/3/18 9:04 AM ET
Yep - totally agree on the slowdown! The machine defaults to 100% speed mode, and even with the basic thread I still ran it slower.
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