Images Magazine Digital Edition May 2018

TIPS & TECHNIQUES www.images-magazine.com 40 images MAY 2018 Most customers are looking to emulate a rustic, simple execution Method 2 The second method uses actual thick thread; there’s a multitude of embroidery-friendly threads thicker than standard 40wt, some with cotton or wool blends for the ‘vintage’ fuzzy finish customers expect. These do require thicker, large-eye needles, retensioning your machine to adjust for the much thicker thread, and digitising to accommodate the intense difference in thickness. For instance, manufacturers recommend a density of 9 points or 0.9mm for full coverage on 12wt thread, less than half standard density for full coverage on a 40wt. Other customer requests Some customers’ demands are far simpler – they may just want to change their embroidery’s sheen to something without the shine of rayon or polyester; it can be tempting to run a rougher poly-blend or cotton thread used for sewing, but I have had mixed results with consistency. Luckily, we’ve seen the rise of 40wt matte finish polyester that runs like standard thread, has extreme resistance to laundering and abrasion, and even has unmatched colourfastness when exposed to UV light. Though not fuzzy in the way hand embroidery flosses are, they display uniform colour and a flat appearance for a more subdued look than classic rayon or polyester. It’s a great compromise for those looking to give a hint of that hand-embroidered look without altering current design assets or adjusting your machines for thick threads, pairing well with the multi-pass stitch technique. Another common customer request is for handwork stitches and motifs. [Above] I used a thick cotton thread with a three-pass per stitch custom pattern to emulate the look of an intarsia knitted material with machine embroidery in this tree design. By copying the relative thickness and the length and direction of the visible yarns in a knit design, I was able to evoke that construction in my digitising. When digitising, the hard part of using thick threads and multi-pass techniques is that neither can be adequately shown in digital previews; this type of work takes testing and recording to pull off. One can see how the multi-pass digitising changes the look of the thread, as the border uses standard single-pass fills of the same thread used in the tree’s ‘yarn’ elements [Right] In this piece depicting a falcon silhouette filled with a colourful, traditional paisley pattern, I used all coloured metallics to create a very folk/bohemian look with a twist. On close inspection, you can see how I created motif versions of stitched edges from stemstitch lines to achieve extra thickness without losing the sparkle of smaller, unaligned stitches, to patterns of blanket stitch, thorns and other repeated shapes that track the contours of the paisley patterns within. This piece evokes a folk aesthetic and handwork stitching while adding full-coverage machine satins and the shine of incredibly modern and inorganic coloured metallic threads.