How to Machine Embroider on T-Shirts

Tshirts are very popular for embroidering but can pose some problems for design selection, hooping and stabilizing. Here are some tips to make your embroidery successful.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tshirt, preferably new (at least newer) and pre-shrunk
• Embroidery design
• Stablizers (no show mesh and tear-away)
• Suitable embroidery supplies

1. 
   Roller coaster rippling caused by not pre-shrinking + dense design.

   Tshirt Selection: Select a good quality t-shirt. Old, nearly worn out tshirts are not suitable candidates for embroidery. Machine embroidery designs are typically stitch intensive and stabbing a fragile fabric with a needle multiple times can result in fabric damage instead of fabric embellishment. Pre-washing to shrink the tshirt before embroidering will result in better embroidery.

2. 
   Design sewn without background is perfect on this very thin jersey knit baby onesie.

   Design Selection. Keep designs on the light side. For large area designs, appliqués are a better option. Heavy, stitch-intensive designs are not suitable for lighter weight fabrics. Try to match the "weight" of the design with the fabric. Lighter, thinner fabrics need lighter stitch count designs; heavier, thicker knits can support heavier designs.

3. 
   Fabric, especially knits, can shift during embroidery if not fused to stabilizer.

   Stabilizer Selection: Knits need a cutaway stabilizer for adequate support. For t-shirt weight fabrics, I recommend using a heat fusible no-show mesh cutaway. These are light-weight. won't negatively affect drape of the fabric, and will stand up to stitches without perforating and therefore compromising fabric stability. Press a piece of cutaway to the back of the knit; avoid stretching or distorting the fabric. Make sure the stabilizer is at least slightly larger than the hoop.

4. Hoop the stabilized fabric along with a piece of tearaway between the rings of the hoop. The fusible backing will prevent stretching during hooping and shifting during sewing. Most fabrics should be hooped without stretching or distorting the fabric in the hoop. Exception: Knits that are designed to be stretched when worn (like leotards).

5. 

   Embroider the design. If you're using standard embroidery thread, you can use a 75/11 embroidery needle. Always use the smallest needle that can carry the thread through the fabric without damaging the thread, fabric, or the needle.

6. 
   Round of sharp corners when cutting away backing.

   Finishing. Tear off tear-away stabilizer, peel up cut-away and trim away, leaving about 1/4 inch around the design, making sure to round off any sharp points or corners.

Tips & Warnings

• Embroidery lasts the lifetime of the garment so don't waste time embroidering on old, worn-out items.
• Match embroidery to a garment. An elaborate, high stitch design equates to a more expensive design. If you figure the value of an embroidery at $1 per thousand stitches, does it make sense to sew a $50 design on a $5 tshirt? What about a $100 design?
• No fusible stabilizer available? Then trying adhering the fabric to the backing with a temporary embroidery spray adhesive.
• Don't use a sticky-back stabilizer with knits. These are light-weight tear-aways with a pressure sensitive adhesive. As stitches perforate the tearaway, it can separate and the fabric will stretch.
• For the same reason as above, avoid heat fusible tearaways.
• Fusible interfacings are not the same as fusible stabilizers. A fusible knit interfacing stretches and will do little to stabilize any fabric for embroidery.

Resources

• More articles on machine embroidery
• Excellent resource for machine embroidery designs, supplies, and on-line classes.
• Designs and supplies with local shipping for Australians