3D Embroidery

[WildWestDesigns]

Oddly enough, I have had a few inquires into puff (puffy, puffft, 3D Foam) foam lately, but when they hear the price that usually sways them from it. After that I got into looking into other ways to accomplish a little bit of that effect with just regular embroidery.

So I started messing with the underlay with the area(s) that I wanted give that effect to. Now this particular underlay has to be digitized stitch by stitch manually, so you aren't going to have many people that are going to want to do this type of digitizing. This is not available automated even by Wilcom's Level 3 software that I use.

I have attached a picture of my current avatar done with regular underlay and then one with the 3D effect. Hopefully they image wasn't downsized so much that you can't tell. I can send the full unedited picture for those that are interested. Just let me know. The amount of puff that was achieved with just embroidery was about 2mm. Which is where puff foam starts out at. This just is more of an economical way of doing it compared to dealing with the hassles of puff. Unfortunately, like all things in embroidery, it has it's limitations, so not every design will work with this method or even with puff foam either. Just one more option to be able to consider though.

Let me know what y'all think.

 

[SqueeGee]

We ordered some 3D caps awhile back (2004) for our company. I cut one up because I was curious about how they did it and it wall all thread - no underlayment or foam - which was a big surprise to me.

The horse looks great!

 

[royster13]

Find a factory overseas and the price, quality and service will please your clients......

 

[WildWestDesigns]

We ordered some 3D caps awhile back (2004) for our company. I cut one up because I was curious about how they did it and it wall all thread - no underlayment or foam - which was a big surprise to me.

The horse looks great!

Thanks.

Hmmm. I would have to see what they did on that one. I'm one of those that I always underlay (even if it's just a small amount) as that is the foundation for everything. I just happened to use an underlay that was meant for very thin fabrics that didn't like a lot of needle penetrations.

Find a factory overseas and the price, quality and service will please your clients......

Actually not really in this case. As long as they didn't really want foam 3mm or up (which I rarely get calls for that). Price wouldn't actually change at all using this process versus regular embroidery. Since I'm manually doing the underlay (one stitch at a time) and it calls for less stitches, so even the file might actually be cheaper. The price for the embroidery onto the garment would be the same for any pattern of that size (stitch count).

So, I would say that in this case, all 3 would go in favor to me compared to overseas unless they would do the same process. I would be inclined to doubt it, because it wouldn't be automated, they would have to know how to do every aspect in the areas that would have the effect. Now, if it becomes automated some how, then things might be different. However, the embroidery files that I've had to redo from people that used overseas vendors, I would be inclined to doubt it.

Plus there is taking a little pride in the craft. I'm like OldPaint in the regard when it comes to embroidery.

 

[GAC05]

Neat,
puffy horse looks like he has that Donald Trump comb-over going on....

wayne k
guam usa

 

[skyhigh]

Quite the difference. Nice job.

 

[Locals Find!]

I guess I have been spoiled but my embroider has been doing my stuff like your version 2 for years. I really never realized how much effort she was really put into things. I really should bring her a fruit basket now to say thanks for all the extra effort.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I guess I have been spoiled but my embroider has been doing my stuff like your version 2 for years. I really never realized how much effort she was really put into things. I really should bring her a fruit basket now to say thanks for all the extra effort.

Really, sure it wasn't foam? I don't get much call in corporate work for 3D. It happens occasionally, but not often. Most of the time, it's individuals that want one or 2 done and that's why it's so expensive to do it with foam.

I would say though that digitizing for foam is worse then this method. In more ways then one. Foam is just a different animal that I hate dealing with. Not only with regard to pattern work, but you have to worry about machine "issues" as well.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Neat,
puffy horse looks like he has that Donald Trump comb-over going on....

wayne k
guam usa

You know, now that you mention it, it does look like it.

Quite the difference. Nice job.

Thanks.

 

[Locals Find!]

Was she doing it with foam or was she doing it with this method? I would say the 3D embroidery that I've done and seen done has been with foam. Not with this method. I'm sure plenty of the old timers either knew of it or a method similar before I started doing it, but foam has definitely been what I'm used to.

I wouldn't worry about thanking her, if she is still charging $10 per 1k stitches in today's time, that is thanks enough. I doubt even John Deer (yes the spelling is correct) would be able to command that price in today's time. Probably why he doesn't do it anymore. Among other reasons I'm sure.

She has been doing it without the foam. I know she has been in the business for a long time. She has told me stories about when she started they had to actually punch the designs out on cards that the machine would follow to move the needles. I have been paying her $10 / thousand ever since I started using her and never questioned the price because I was happy with the quality I was getting. I never put much thought into how much difference there really is. I always figured the flat stuff I saw was done overseas.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

She has been doing it without the foam. I know she has been in the business for a long time. She has told me stories about when she started they had to actually punch the designs out on cards that the machine would follow to move the needles.

Yep, even older then I am. I'm sure all the tricks that I'm discovering probably have already been discovered by them long before me.

I always figured the flat stuff I saw was done overseas.

Flat work implies mainly fill stitches. Might want to try to re-word that.

3D work is more artistic, doesn't really go well with corporate work. They normally need to be tame and muted.

 

[binki]

we had one 'puff' job that was a single letter on a ballcap and just did it with stitching rather than with foam (250 caps for a little league.) Other than running out of thread for the job during a weekend and having to run to joanns to get some emergency thread (cleaned out 3 stores) it came out pretty nice.

 

[Locals Find!]

Yep, even older then I am. I'm sure all the tricks that I'm discovering probably have already been discovered by them long before me.




Flat work implies mainly fill stitches. Might want to try to re-word that.

3D work is more artistic, doesn't really go well with corporate work. They normally need to be tame and muted.

Thanks. If you ever need someone to back you up. She runs a mainly wholesale operation. Her Company is AQE in Cape Coral FL her name is Donna. I know she does a lot of backup work for guys like yourself. When you get those big jobs that you need a few extra heads & guaranteed quality.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I always figured the flat stuff I saw was done overseas.

To be more elaborate on what I mean by what I think of when you say "flat work".

Now, I did just simple examples, but they should work. When you say "flat", I think of a pattern that is like that simple circle in the pictured called "Flat". All complex fill stitches.

Satin stitches has a degree of dimensionality on there own, if you look at the forelock in the original picture, there is dimensionality there. The mane, muzzle, and cheeks are also satin stitches, but some of the stitches were so long that it triggered the "auto split" function and that gives them a flatter look. You take that off when you are doing the puff effect. There are a lot of ways around that without having to take off the auto split function. You just have to be careful with it. The puff effect just exaggerates that "lift" that satin stitches have. Otherwise this wouldn't work.

Now back to the complex fill stitches. Even those have there place with adding that special effect to it. Blending is one example which I have pictured. 2 complex fill objects with different density settings. Another example of that is mainly "flat" is realistic animals. I thought I still had some on this computer, but I don't. Very little call for those.

I guess what was getting me was the impression that you were giving me is that flat embroidery is bad embroidery. It can be, especially when people digitizing don't know what to do about their start and end points with consideration of the stitching angle, but not in all instances. What I see happening a lot is that people that people will unnecessarily use fill stitches to "pad the stitch count". That can also lead to bad embroidery, bullet proof embroidery as most of us like to call it.

What really makes a good design is efficient production time considering what the pattern is trying to accomplish. Special effects can kill production time depending on what effects are being used and how they are being used in the design.

 

[Locals Find!]

Here is an example of what I meant by flat. When she embroiders my name on my shirts they have a nice lift to them they kinda pop out a bit they have some visual depth. Kinda like the little gator on the Lacoste shirts.

When I say flat I mean Flat no visual depth where the embroidery almost looks like screen printing on the shirt. Like its actually part of the design of the shirt.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Here is an example of what I meant by flat. When she embroiders my name on my shirts they have a nice lift to them they kinda pop out a bit they have some visual depth. Kinda like the little gator on the Lacoste shirts.

When I say flat I mean Flat no visual depth where the embroidery almost looks like screen printing on the shirt. Like its actually part of the design of the shirt.

Ok, you can achieve that little bit with just a regular satin stitching. As what most people should be doing with names.

The puff example takes it to the extreme. You really don't want to use puff on text. It is very easy to get the fonts to look out of whack using a puff effect unless it's a script that has thin and fat parts throughout each letter. Then the eye won't gravitate to the irregularity that shows up like it would with block text.

You are right, everyone is doing that (or should be doing that) 95% of the time. My only 2 exceptions are size (if an individual stitch is bigger then 12.7mm) or if I'm trying to preserve a font as much as I can and that's usually if they want me to the preserve that font. Quite a bit of the time though, it's hard to preserve specialty font. Even with an extensive collection of embroidery only fonts, it's still hard to do that for every scenario.