Embroidery basics

Machine embroidery is drawing with thread under tension on fabric that moves. Almost every setting in StitchCraft exists because of one of the effects below. Terms in bold are in the glossary.

Stitches are straight lines between holes

The machine moves the hoop and drops the needle: each stitch is a straight segment between two needle penetrations. A curve is a chain of short stitches; the shorter they are, the smoother the curve but the more holes the fabric takes. Too short (under about 0.3–0.5 mm) and the needle hits the same hole, which shreds thread and fabric; too long (beyond about 7 mm on exposed satin, 12 mm anywhere) and stitches snag and sag.

Three stitch families

• Running stitch — a dotted line of single stitches, for outlines, details and travel underneath. Bean stitch sews each stitch three (or more) times for a bold line.
• Satin — stitches swing side to side between two edges, making the glossy band seen in lettering and borders. Good from about 1.5 mm to 8–10 mm wide.
• Fill — rows of running stitches covering an area. Tatami offsets the needle points from row to row so no lines show.

The fabric fights back: pull and push

Thread under tension pulls the fabric together across the stitch direction: a satin column ends up narrower than drawn, a fill shorter across its rows. The same stitches push fabric outward along the stitch direction, so columns grow at their ends. Pull compensation widens what is sewn so the result matches what was drawn. How much depends on fabric, stabilizer, density and thread — which is why machine test sheet TS-07 exists.

Underlay: the foundation

Underlay is a light layer sewn first: it tacks fabric to stabilizer, lifts the top stitches so they look full, and stops fabric texture poking through. Satins use centre-walk, contour or zigzag underlay; fills use a sparse fill at a cross angle.

Density

Row spacing (fills) and zigzag spacing (satins) set density. Denser covers better but stiffens the fabric, adds stitches and time, and increases pull. Around 0.4 mm suits most 40 wt thread on woven fabric; small text and knits want different values.

Stabilizer and hooping

Stabilizer backs the fabric so it does not distort. Tear-away suits stable wovens; cut-away suits knits and dense designs. Hoop the fabric drum-tight without stretching it. Most “the design is wrong” problems on the machine are stabilizer or hooping problems; the test-sheet protocol keeps these constant so we test the design, not the setup.

Jumps, trims and locks

Moving from one place to another without sewing is a jump; cutting the thread is a trim. Before a trim or colour change the thread is secured with a lock stitch (tie-off), and after it with a tie-in, so nothing unravels. Short moves are cheaper sewn as travel stitches hidden under later stitching.

Hoops and their fields

A hoop keeps the fabric drum-tight, and the machine sews only inside the hoop’s field, which is smaller than its frame. The reference Brother PE800’s 5 × 7 in hoop sews at most 130 × 180 mm, and its 4 × 4 in hoop 100 × 100 mm. The fabric is most stable near the centre, and large dense designs pull more. A design sews best in the smallest hoop it fits. StitchCraft stops with an error at a design larger than the hoop it plans for, and warns beyond a profile’s comfort zone where the profile has one.