Embroidery Q & A
How to I align shirts properly? |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Apr 18 2008 at 5:32 PM |
One of the most popular questions we get asked about is how to align the hoop on shirts so that the design is level and in the right place.
Our main business is sewing one-off designs onto polo shirts and fleece jackets using a Brother PR600. There is nothing worse than sewing out a design onto a shirts and then finding that the writing runs up or down and not straight across.
There are a few tools you can buy that claim to help you align shirts in the hoop correctly, but we have found a way that suits us and here is what we do.
Step One:
Find a large flat surface that is a bit higher than a normal table. We use a large ironing board, set quit high to avoid bending too much. Set the shirt out as flat as you can, so the full length of the shirt is on the table.
Step Two:
Insert the back of the hoop into the shirt, roughly in the right place. You can move the back of the hoop around in the shirt in a moment. Put the hoop with the arms on over the top and using your eye, get it approximately in the right place. As a guide, the hoop should be around 1cm or 2 cm from the buttons, depending on the size of the shirt and size of the design. Bigger shirts need a bigger distance. Line up the bottom of the hoop with the bottom of the button hem (placket).
Step Three:
Flatten the shirt all the way down and measure the distance from the hoop arm down to the bottom hem on the shirt on both sides. These should ideally be the same, or within 2 or 3 mm of each other. Bear in mind that the hem may not always be straight either! Maneuver the hoop front and back until the measurement is the same.
Step 4:
Tighten the hoop and then measure again. The material may have slipped, so it's important to check and redo step 3 again. Its always best to measure twice and sew once to avoid expensive mistakes!
UPDATE: We have just added a free illustrated PDF guide you can download here: Free Embroidery Placement Guide
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