Images Digital Edition March 2019

STEP-BY-STEP: HOW TO CREATE A BADGE www.images-magazine.com MARCH 2019 images 71 TIPS & TECHNIQUES Badges are best embroidered on stable fabric; this means you can reduce underlay and remove overlaps, and improve your design by eliminating distortions and unnecessary stitches. Another little tip to help eliminate distortions is to digitise from the centre out. Trick: Reducing overlapping will save minutes on each badge; when multiplied by the number of badges, this will significantly reduce the run time of a job and decrease overall costs. 1 2 Add a run stitch outline to the badge; this will be a guide for the knife or scissors in preparation for the overlocked edge. The overlocking may vary in width but will usually be about 3mm wide. To reduce the bulkiness and stiffness of the badge choose a fabric the same colour as the badge background colour. This will have the added effect of reducing stitches and run time. 3 4 Use the Mirror Merge Tool in EmbroideryStudio e4.2 to quickly duplicate the logo for the machine hoop. The Mirror Merge tool in ES e4.2 will automatically re-sequence all the colours. Alternatively, you can re-sequence the design manually. The aim of this process is to re-order the colours so that each colour thread (across all logos) stitches out at one time. This step will reduce thread change and therefore greatly reduce machine run time without loss of registration. 5 6 With a circular knife, press to cut the badges or cut by hand with sharp scissors, using the stitch line as a guide. Trick: Prevent unravelling by cutting with a hot knife or laser which fuses the edge of the rayon thread. Personalisation is a way to add a little extra to your badge offering. Use the Teamname Matrix in ES e4.2 to import your list of names; it will automatically embroider the names under the logo. 7 8 Use a merrow overlocker to edge the badge. If your badge has acute angles, you must use a satin stitch as shown, instead of the merrow overlock. Trick: If you want the overlock to run along the edge of the stitched badge, set the offset for the guideline at approximately 1mm so you will end with a 2mm cover of the stitched badge.