Northwest Embroidery Contract Embroidery and Digitizing

Glossary of Embroidery Terminology

Aetzing: The process used to create schiffli laces. The base fabric is dissolved, leaving the threads that have been stitched together to form the lace. Anti-Pilling: A treatment applied to the garment to prevent pilling, or the formation of little balls of fabric due to wear.

Appliqué: Decoration or trim cut from one piece of fabric and stitched to another to add dimension and texture. If appliqué occupies a significant amount of the design, the stitch count is lower.

Automatic Color Change: The ability of a multi-needle commercial embroidery machine to follow a command to change to another specified needle with a different thread color.

Backing: Woven or nonwoven material used underneath the item or fabric being embroidered to provide support and stability. Can be hooped with the item or placed between the machine and throat plate and the hooped garment. Available in various weights and in two basic types — cutaway and tear-away.

Balboa Stitch: A technique used to produce tone-On-tone designs that feature the actual stitches as a background and give the fabric prominence. Has an embossed appearance.

Bean Stitch: Three stitches placed back and forth between two points. Often used ftw outlining, because it elininates the need for repeatedly digitizing a single-ply run stitch outline.

Birdnesting: Collection of thread between goods and needle plate, resembling a bird's nest. Formation of a bird's nest prevents free movement of goods and may be caused by inadequate tensioning of the top thread, top thread not following thread path correctly or flagging goods.

Blatt Stitch: Schiffli term meaning "to feed the yarn," therefore producing a long zigzag stitch with threads lying close together. Adapted for multi-head use; see Satin Stitch. Blending: A digitizing technique that makes different colors of thread flow together in a more pleasing manner. Relies heavily on variable densities. Gives a design a more realistic, 3-D look.

Bobbin: Spool or reel that holds the bobbin thread, which helps form stitches on the underside of the fabric. Bonnaz: Chain-stitch machine developed in the ISOOs. Named for its French inventor, Emile Bonnaz, and first manufactured by the Comely Co. of France.

Boring: Openwork incorporated into embroidered designs; a sharp-pointed instrument punctures, or bores, tile fabric, and stitches are made around the opening to enclose the raw edges.

Buckram: Coarse, woven fabric stiffened with glue, used to stabilize fabric for stitching. Commonly used in caps to hold the front panel erect.

Cartoon: Finished artwork of an embroidery design to be digitized. Usually six times larger than the finished design size, based on the art—to—stitching ratio historically used in the schiffli industry.

Chain Stitch: Stitch that resembles a chain link, formed with one thread fed from the bottom side of the fabric. Done on a manual or computerized machine with a hook that functions like a needle.

Chenille: Form of embroidery in which a loop (moss) stitch is formed on the top side of the fabric. Uses heavy yarns of wool, cotton or acrylic. Created by a chain stitch machine that has been adjusted to form this stitch type. Also known as loop piling.

Column Stitch: Formed by closely placed zigzag stitches. Often used to form borders. Also known as steil stitch. See Satin Stitch.

Complex Fill: Refers to a digitizing capability that allows areas to he designated as void at the same time the design's edges, or perimeter points, are defined. The design can thus be digitized as one fill area, instead of being broken down into multiple sections.

Condensed Format: Method of digitizing in which a design is saved in a skeletal form. A proportionate number of stitches may later be placed between defined points after a scale has been designated. With a machine that can read condensed format, the scale, density and stitch lengths in a design may be changed. See Expanded Format.

Cording: A technique that employs a single cord that's laid down on fabric and attached with transparent zigzag stitches. These are relatively simple, low-stitch-count designs featuring lots of swirls and curves. Different widths of cording are available to provide a wide range of looks. A special attachment is required for the embroidery machine.

Cordlock: A stopper on a draw cord that will keeps the cord from retracting into a garment. Cover Stitching: Using two needles to overlap threads underneath, covering the over-edged seams with smooth-seamed layers of threads.

Cross-Stitch: Regular bean stitch movements forming x's in rows or within a box shape to form geometric designs. Creates a handmade appearance.

Crystal Heat Transfers: Metallic studs or crystals strategically placed to form a design. While this can be done by hand, most of the time that method is too time-consuming to be cost effective. Ready-made transfers are available, and custom transfers can also be ordered from some companies. New to the embroidery industry are both stitch designs and appliqués that have accompanying transfers specifically calculated to fit and enhance the embroidery.

Debossing: Depressed imprint created by a machine pressing a dye into the surface of fabric or material. Popular in leather decoration.

Density: Number of stitches in a specific area. Determines the total thread coverage in a design.

Design Library/Catalog: A computer program that catalogs a collection of digitized designs kept by embroidery shops and allows an embroiderer to access the design by subject, stitch count, number of colors or icon.

Digital Imaging: Also called direct-to-garment printing from an inkjet printer. A scanned image or computer-generated image can he used, with the process being similar to printing paper in a standard printer. The latest advance in this technique is the ability to print on dark colors and black, something that had been impossible either in dye sublimation or digital imaging, and had been possible only through screen printing.

Digitize: Modem term for punching, reflecting the computerized method of converting artwork into a series of commands to be read by an embroidery machine's computer. See Punching.

Digitizing Tablet: A computer-aided design device used by digitizers to plot needle penetrations for embroidery designs. Typically, a pencil drawing of the design is enlarged and then taped to this tablet. The digitizer then uses a device known as a puck to indicate stitch types, shapes, underlay and actual needle penetrations.

Double Needle: Two rows of parallel stitching at the sleeve and/or bottom hem for a cleaner, more finished look.

Double Stitched: The finish on a sleeve and/or bottom hem that uses two needles to create parallel rows of visible stitching. It gives the garment a cleaner, more finished look and adds durability.

Editing: Changing aspects of a design via a computerized editing program. Most programs allow the user to scale designs up or down, edit stitch by stitch or block by block, merge lettering with the design, move aspects of the design around, combine designs, and insert or edit machine commands.

Emblem: Logo or design with a finished edge. Commonly an insignia of identification, usually worn on outer clothing. Historically, an emblem carried a motto, verse or suggested a moral lesson. Also known as a crest or patch.

Embossing: A surface effect achieved on fabric by means of passing cloth through a series of engraved rollers that impart figures or designs to its surface. Rollers work through heat and pressure.

Embroidery: Decorative stitching on fabric. Generally involves non-lettered designs but can also include lettering and/or monograms. Evidence of embroidery exists during the reign of Egyptian pharaohs, in the writings of Homer from the Crusaders of the 12th century. Evolved from handwork to manual sewing machines and from handlooms and schiffli machines with hundreds of needles to high-speed, computerized multi-head machines.

Expanded Format: A design program in which individual stitches in a design have been specifically digitized for a certain size. Designs punched in this format cannot generally he enlarged or reduced more than 10% to 20% without distortion, because stitch count remains constant.

Facing: A piece of fabric that is sewn to the collar, front opening, cuffs or arms of a garment to create a finished look.

Fancy Fills: A digitizing function that automatically incorporates special patterns or textures into fill areas. Also known as specialty fills.

Feather Stitching: Lightweight designs constructed of run stitches. Ideal for tricots, nylons and taffetas. Fill Stitch: Series of run stitches commonly used to cover large areas. Different fill patterns can be created by altering the angle, length or repeat sequence of the stitches.

Finishing: Processes performed after embroidery is complete. Includes trimming loose threads, cutting or tearing away excess backing, removing topping, cleaning any stains, pressing or steaming to remove wrinkles or hoop marks and packaging for sale or shipment.

Flagging: Up-and-down motion of goods under action of the needle. It's called flagging because of it resembles a waving flag. Often caused by improper framing of goods, flagging may result in poor registration, unsatisfactory stitch format and birdnesting.

Foil: Comes in several colors, with the most popular being red, gold and silver. To use foil, screen print the garment as usual, place the foil over the wet ink, remove the garment from the platen, and cure it with a heat press. The printed and foiled garment can he flash dried before ifs removed from the platen, and other colors then can be printed on top of the foil.

Frame: I biding device for insertion of goods under an embroidery head for the application of embroidery May employ a number of means for maintaining stability during the embroidery process, including clamps, vacuum devices, magnets or springs.

French Knots: A stitch featuring a raised, knotted center. Fringe: Threads that are cut and hang loosely from the edge of a design.

Grommets: Small holes that allow for air circulation and ventilation, usually found underarm or in the back neck of garments.

Hand: The way the fabric feds when it's touched. Terms like softess, crispness, and silkiness are all used to describe the hand of the fabric.

Heirloom Embroidery: Embroidered goods designed to he passed down from generation to generation. Hook: Holds the bobbin case in the machine and plays a vital role in stitch formation. Making two complete rotations for each stitch, its point meets a loop of top thread at a precisely timed moment and distance (gap) to form a stitch.

Hoop: Device made from wood, plastic or steel with which fabric is gripped tightly between an inner ring and an outer ring. The hoop is attached to the machine's pantograph. Machine hoops are designed to push the fabric to the bottom of the inner ring and hold it against the machine bed for embroidering.

Hooping Device: Device that aids in hooping garments or items for embroidery. Especially helpful for hooping multilayered items and for uniformly hooping multiple items.

Jersey Knit: A type of fabric with a defined smooth outside, and a more textured inside. Almost all T-shirts are constructed of jersey knit material.

Jump Stitch: Movement of the pantograph and rotation of the sewing head without the needle going down. Used to move from one point in a design to another or to create stitches that are longer than the machine would normally allow.

Lace: The use of threads alone to produce a designed fabric. Most often used to embellish women's apparel and home fashions.

Lettering: Embroidery using letters or words. Lettering, commonly called "keyboard lettering," may he created using an embroidery lettering program on a PC or from circuit boards that allow a variance of letter styles, sizes., heights, densities and orher characteristics.

Lock Stitch: Commonly referred to as a lock-down or tack-down stitch, a lock stitch is formed by three or four consecutive stitches of at least a 10-point movement. It should be used at the end of any element in your design where jump stitches will follow, such as color change or the end of a design. May be stitched in a triangle, star or in a straight line. Also the name of the type of stitch formed by the hook and needle of home sewing machines, as well as computerized embroidery machines.

Logo: Name, symbol or trademark of a company or organization. Short for logotype. Looping: Loops on the surface of embroidery, generally caused by poor tension or tension problems.

Machine Language: The codes and formats used by different machine manufacturers within the embroidery industry. Common formats include Barudan, Brother, Fortran, Happy, Marco, Meistergram, Melco, Pfaff, Stellar, Tajima, Toyota, Ultramatic and ZSK. Most digitizing systems can save designs in these languages so the computer disk can he read by the embroidery machine.

Marking: Marking goods serves as an aid in positioning the frame and referencing the needle start points.

Monogram: Embroidered design coin-posed of one or more letters, usually the initials of a name.

Moss Stitch: Chenille-type stitch. Also see Chenille.

Microfiber: A fine polyester fiber that woven into a lightweight, washable and breathable fabric that holds shape extremely well. The finished result is a smooth, soft, almost suede-like feel. The tight weave allows the fabric to be water resistant while still remaining light and breathable.

Motif: An appliqué. A single embroidered design.

Needle: Small, slender piece of steel with a hole for thread and a point for stitching fabric. A machine needle differs from a handwork needle; the machine needle's eye is found at its pointed end. Machine embroidery needles come with sharp points for piercing heavy, tightly woven fabrics; ball points, which glide between the fibers of knits; and a variety of specialty points, such as wedge points, which are used for leather.

Nippers: See Thread Clipper

Pad Printing: Pad printing utilizes a flexible silicone rubber transfer pad that picks tip a film of ink from a photo—etched printing plate and transfers it to an item. Pad printing is usually used for 3-D items.

Paper Tape: One punching format that uses a continuous reel of paper or Mylar tape containing X-Y coordinate information in binary, Fortran or other numeric codes to control pantograph movement. it's becoming less favored and replaced by computer disks.

Patches: Made from twill fabric, patches have a merrowed edge and can have an adhesive back.

Pattern: An outline of a garment on paper. It usually embodies all the pieces necessary to cut a complete garment from material.

Pigment dyed: A dying process that gives fabric a desirable soft distressed look, as if it had been washed and worn.

Piqué: A fabric of cotton or spun rayon woven lengthwise with raised cords.

Placket: The opening 0f a shirt or jacket where the garment Listens or at a pocket. \ reverse placket is the reversed opening for women's garments.

Preshrunk: Fabrics or garments that have received a preshrinking treatment. Often done on cottons — to remove the tendency for cloth to shrink - before cutting the fabric for use in a garment, to prevent further shrinkage.

Puckering: Result of the fabric being gathered by the stitches. Many possible causes include incorrect density, or loose hooping. Northwest Embroidery works hard to eliminate the possibility of puckering in every garment we sew.

Pull Compensation: A degree of distortion built into a design by the digitizer to compensate for pull on the fabric caused by the embroidery stitches.

Punching: Conversion of artwork into a series of commands to he read by an embroidery machine's computer. Derived from an early method of machine embroidery in which a part of the machine, called an automat, reads paper tapes, or Jacquards, punched with holes representing stitches, pantograph movements and other commands. While still capable of producing paper tape, many computer digitizing systems now store this information in disk format.

Registration: Correct registration is achieved when all stitches and design elements line tip correctly.

Rib knit: A textured knit that maintains an appearance of vertical lines. It's elastic and retains its shape.

Run Stitch: Consists of one stitch between two points. Used for outlining and fine detail. Also known as a walk stitch.

SPI: Stitches per inch; system for measuring density or the number of satin stitches in an inch of embroidery.

5PM: Stitches per minute; system for measuring the running speed of all embroidery machine.

Satin Stitch: Formed by closely arranged zigzag stitches. Can be laid down at any angle and with varying stitch lengths. Adapted from the blatt stitch, used in schiffli embroidery

Scaling: Ability within one design program to enlarge or reduce a design. In expanded format, most scaling is limited to 10% to 20%, because the stitch count remains constant despite the final design size. In condensed or outline formats, scale changes may he more dramatic, because stitch count and density may be varied.

Panda Fleece: A style of polyester fleece that is extremely soft, warm, and durable. It is capable of maintaining its shape and does not ball-up or pill after wear and washing.

Pigment dyed: A dying process that gives fabric a desirable soft distressed look, as if it had been washed and worn.

Puff Embroidery: A technique popular in the early '90s, and seems to he gaining popularity again. A special thick backing is placed in the hoop under the substrate.

Schiffli Machine: A commercial embroidery machine that utilizes the combination of needle and shuttle to form a stitch. Massive in size and excellent for emblem production, the creation of lace, embroidery production on oversized items and production orders of extremely large quantities.

Short Stitch: A digitizing technique that places shorter stitches in curves and corners to avoid an unnecessary buildup of stitches.

Silk Screening: Also known as screen printing, it's a photographic process that transfers artwork onto a porous nylon screen, which allows a custom color ink to flow onto the garment.

Sleeve: Part of the garment that covers part of or the entire arm.

Specialty Fill: A fill which features a "relief" or motif design within the selected fill area.

Stability: The property of a bonded fabric that prevents sagging, slipping or stretching. This is conducive to ease of handling in manufacturing, and helps the fabric to keep its shape in wear, dry cleaning and washing.

Stain Release: Allows fabric to release soiling and stains upon washing.

Stain Repellent: Fabric dipped in a chemical bath that adds a concentration of compound, such as Teflon, that repels stains. Steil Stitch: See Column Stitch.

Stitch Count: The total number of stitches in a particular design.

Stitch Editing: Digitizing feature that allows one or more stitches in a pattern to he deleted or altered. Stitch Lengths: A variable setting for all stitch types - run, satin and fill.

Stitch Type: A wide variety of stitches are available, but in actuality, there are two basic stitch types — the run and satin stitch. All other types are a variation of these two.

Stock Designs: Digitized generic embroidery designs that are readily available at a cost below that of custom-digitized designs.

Storm Flap: A strip of fabric that covers the zipper or snap closure of a jacket to protect against wind and moisture. Storm flaps can also he sewn on the inside of the zipper.

Straight-Stitch Machine: A machine that features needles that move up and down in one spot. The pantograph punches the design along. The majority of commercial embroidery machines use this type movement.

Swatch: A small sample of material used for inspection, comparison, construction, color, finish and sales purposes.

Swiss Embroidery: 1) Satin stitch embroidery. 2) Also recalls the origins of an automated embroidery machine that was developed in the 1800s by Isaak Groebli. Embroidery remains a government-supported industry in Switzerland today.

Tackle Twill: Letters or numbers cut from polyester or rayon twill fabric that are commonly used for athletic teams and organizations. Tackle twill appliqués attached to a garment have an adhesive backing that tacks them in place; the edges of the appliqués are then zigzag stitched.

Tatami Stitch: Series of run stitches, commonly used to cover large areas. Different fill patterns can be created by varying the stitch length, angle or sequence.

Tension: Tautness of thread when forming stitches. Top thread tension, as well as bobbin thread tension, needs to he set. Proper thread tension is achieved when about one-third of the thread showing on the underside of the fabric on a column stitch is bobbin thread.

Textile: Traditionally a textile is defined as a woven fabric made by interlacing yarns.

Thread: Fine cord of natural or synthetic fibers, made of two or 'note filaments twisted together, and used for stitching. Embroidery threads are available in a variety of types, including rayon, polyester, cotton, acrylic and metallics.

Thread Clippers: Small cutting utensil with a spring action that's operated by the thumb in a hole on the top blade and the fingers cupped around the bottom blade. Useful for quick thread cutting, but unsuitable for detailed trimming or removal of backing.

Thread Count: The actual number of warp ends and filling picks per inch in a woven cloth. In knitted fabric, thread count implies the number of wales or ribs.

3-D Foam Embroidery: This type of embroidery gets its 3-D appearance from foam that's placed over the area to be embroidered. As the design is stitched, the needle perforates the foam. Once completed, the unused foam is pulled away. Foam is available in a variety of colors and thicknesses.

Topping: Material hooped or placed on top of fabrics that have definable nap or surface texture, such as corduroy and terry cloth. This is done prior to embroidery. The topping compacts the wale or nap and holds the stitches above it. Includes a variety of substances, such as plastic wrap, water-soluble plastic, "foil" and open-weave fabric that has been chemically treated to disintegrate with the application of heat. Also known as facing.

Trapunto: A form of 3-D embroidery. An area is stitched to create a pocket between the fabric and backing, which is then stuff from the back with some type of fluff filling.

Trimming: Operation in the finishing process that involves trimming the reverse and top sides of the embroidery, including jump stitches and backing.

Tulle: A fine net of acetate, nylon, rayon or silk used for the embroidery of laces.

Underlay: Stitches laid down before ocher design elements to help stabilize stretchy fabrics and to tack down high naps on fabrics, so the design's details don't get lost. May also be used to create such effects as crowned, fiat or raised areas in the embroidery, depending on how they are laid down.

Uni-Fit: A style of cap constructed with a stretchable fabic and band inside to allow it to fit differently sized heads, without the need for a strap or buckle in the back.

V Patch: A piece of fabric cut into a V shape that is sewn onto a garment directly under the collar. It provides support against stretching the neck opening and is also a fashionable component. Variable Sizing: Ability to scale a design to different sizes.

Walk Stitch: See Run Stitch. Water Repellent: Ability of a fabric to resist penetration by water under certain conditions. Various types of tests are used, and these are conducted on samples before and after subjection to standard washing and dry cleaning tests.

Water Resistant: Fabric treated chemically to resist water. Not to he confused with water repellent.

Waterproof: A garment that is seam-sealed and able to withstand a specific amount of water pressure, keeping the wearer completely dry by blocking water from coming in.

Welt: A strip of material seamed to a pocket opening as a finishing as well as a strengthening device; a covered cord or ornamental strip sewn on a border.

Wickability: The ability of a fiber or fabric to disperse moisture and allow it to pass through to the surface of the fabric, so that evaporation can take place.

Wrinkle Resistant: The application of resin to fabric which is then heated to extremely high temperatures to cure garments and make them hold their shape without wrinkling.

Yoke Back: A piece of fabric that connects the hack of a garment to the shoulders. This allows the garment to lie flat.

Zigzag Machine: A machine that features a needle that swings left and right, laying down the stitches in a zigzag pattern. Offers high—speed sewing. Ideal for monogramming and personalization.

Zigzag Stitch: Stitches that go from one side of an area to he sewn, diagonally to the other side Diagonals may be placed closely together to form a satin stitch.