Decorative additions are now no longer limited to just 2D designs. 3D puff embroidery is a great way to add not just a bit of texture but a noticeable amount of it. Usually, embroidery already adds a good amount of texture to your fabric, but with puff embroidery, you get even more body on the surface. Puff embroidery is usually done on thicker fabrics, typically on baseball caps.
The first step for creating puff embroidery is to have the design ready, and the embroidery machine programmed to sew out your design. Puff embroidery can actually be done on a wide range of garments with the exception of very fragile or thin ones. However, it looks and feels best on harder garments such as those used for heavy duty bags, or on cap flaps.
Once the design is ready, the garment can be hooped and set on the embroidery machine. 3D puff embroidery usually calls for two rounds of embroidery – one which would serve as the outline, and the other which would be the one keeping the puff or foam material in place. The first layer of embroidery would be flat against the fabric and will become the outline for the foam. Two-color puff embroideries pop out better against fabrics, although you can skip this part if you use a contrasting thread color for your single-color puff embroidery on your garment.
Next, place a layer of the puff or your foam over the outline. Have a little over half an inch of foam from each side of the outline embroidery and secure the foam in place with some masking tape. Foam usually comes in basic colors, so there would be times when matching your thread with the foam won’t produce exact results. Because of this, remember to choose the closest matching color of puff so it won’t show through your second layer of embroidery.
Once the foam is in place, set your embroidery machine to work and have it run the next color of thread. Reducing the embroidery speed of the machine and setting it on a denser stitch can help come up with better coverage and less thread breakage during the embroidery process. Allow the embroidery machine to finish with the process, and check after every few moments if the foam is still in place. Usually, the embroidery machine would keep the foam in place anyway, but rechecking if the foam stays in place can help have better results.
Once the embroidery machine is done with the second layer that has the puff on it, you will notice that the puff remains “attached” through bits of perforated material, but this can easily come off – leaving just the embossed parts on your fabric. Simply pull out the edges of the foam and you’ll have no problem keeping the embroidered letter in good condition.
With the right materials and embroidery machine settings, 3D embroideries can be easily achieved to have more textured designs on your fabrics. This style is particularly beneficial for sports goods!
What did you think about today’s post? Sound off on the comments section below!