Saturday, April 25, 2015

Baseball Cap Embroidery Using Embroidery Foam


Today's post is a two-fer!  These are my notes on both how I used embroidery foam AND how I embroidered on a ball cap.

After seeing that there were special files just for use with embroidery foam (and a video on how to use them), I bought a number of colors from World Weidener.  They called the product they sell "embroidery foam" on their website, but what I received looked just like the 2 mm foam that I had in my craft room for other kinds of projects. (Embroidery foam is supposed to be washable so that is the benefit of using it!)  



Despite my concerns, I used it to start experimenting.  This is Apex's Panama font with one layer of 2 mm foam. I matched the color of the thread to the foam.  This detail is really important!  

This sample is stitched on canvas that has been hooped with tear away.  I didn't make any changes to tension.



The foam condenses down as it stitches.  The font feels firm, like there is a cord inside!  The stitching really pops off the surface!

This is the same font but with no foam.  The satin stitching is dense and it works great even without the foam, making it a great font just to have!


I also played around with a beautiful, new font called Violet Monogram, designed to work with embroidery foam.  I love the contrast outline stitch.  This was stitched with two sheets of 2mm foam.  


This has such nice texture and would be gorgeous for tone-on-tone projects!  I love how it lifts off the surface.  


On each of these, I floated the foam on top of the fabric to be embroidered.  I did not use a basting stitch or adhesive.  Once it started stitching, the foam was held in place.  I decided that using two sheets of the 2 mm foam yielded the best results.  After the machine finished stitching and I clipped my jump stitches, the foam tore off easily because the stitching itself perforated it so perfectly.  

At this point, I was ready to try putting a dimensional monogram on a cap!  I used a ballcap blank from Michael's Crafts.  

I found that there was no special tool needed, although I have seen hoops made from clipboards.  I simply used my regular 5x7 hoop.  I hooped cut-away and used a pencil to draw in the cross hairs, forming the center.  I printed my design using Embrilliance Essentials and decided placement on my hat, then transferred to the hoop.  (For details on how I do this, check out my post on stitching a pillowcase.  I go into a lot of detail on how I use thumbtacks to transfer the design from the project to the hoop.)



I flattened the hat as much as possible, lifting in order to spray a little textile adhesive under it.  I kept the bill in place by using a simple binder clip.  Once it was in place, I put the foam on top and allowed the machine to start stitching the design.  I used polyester thread from Metro Embroidery Thread.


Once it was done, I pulled the foam away, allowing it to rip off along the perforations.



As you can see, the foam left behind little raggedy bits.


This was easy enough to fix using a very hot iron and gently touching the sides and top of the stitched lettering.  I didn't lay the hat flat, I held it in my hand and worked with a light touch, making sure to only touch where needed.  It made the lifted lettering smooth!  


I did roll the bill of the cap a bit to restore its shaping, which was easy and effective.


I was pleased with the outcome!  


 Quick List of Links Provided in This Post:
  • 3D Foam Puff Embroidery video:  click here.
  • World Weidner embroidery foam (not so sure about this being washable):  click here.
  • Apex 3D Puff Panama script font:  click here.
  • Hang to Dry Violet Monogram:  click here.
  • Notes on how to transfer design from garment to hoop (on a previous post):  click here.
  • Michael's ball cap blanks:  click here.
  • Metro Embroidery thread for polyester thread:  click here.

Thank you for checking my post today.  All of my embroidery notes, suppliers, and projects can be found on my Embroidery page on my blog, accessible using the tab at the top of my blog or by clicking here

7 comments:

Dk said...

I just want to say you are one amazing woman! I have learned so much from you and you detailed tutorials. Thank you so much fo being kind enough to share your knowledge with me and the rest of the world. You rock!

Unknown said...

wow, very cool ! You are becoming a rock star with this embroidery stuff :)

Unknown said...

You did this with your 770 machine? :-)

Nadia (WithGlitteringEyes.blogspot.com) said...

Yes, Brother PE-770 and Embrilliance software. Very easy!

Bipp said...

Thank you so much for sharing. Very good descriptions. I love it !

Gmama Jane said...

I didn't think my PE-770 could do all the amazing things you have shown how to do. I'm new to your site but I can tell right away, you are going to be my go-to person/teacher/expert/all around embroidery guru! YOU ROCK GIRLFRIEND. I've been scared to do much on my machine. How did you figure all this out?

Unknown said...

Interesting and very clever. This is an eye opener for a novice such as me. Thank you and keep posting your amazing experiments.

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