Reversible Embroidery Embroidery Project

What exactly does reversible embroidery mean? Is it something like an “UNDO” command, where you can reverse the process if you screw something up? Don’t you wish!! Sorry, but that’s the wrong answer!

Reversible embroidery refers to an application, where the backside of the embroidery is just as visible as the front. For most of your jobs, no one ever looks at the backside of your design (except another embroiderer who is trying to find a flaw with your tension settings), thus it’s really only the front of the design that matters. But from time-to-time, you will encounter a situation where the backside is just as important as the front. The result is that you will have to carefully review the job parameters and then choose a method that achieves the desired result.

Typical situations that require reversible embroidery include: director’s chairs, flags, pennants, and in some cases, towels and blankets.

The first challenge is bobbin thread. With reversible embroidery, you must have the same color bobbin as upper thread. Unfortunately, bobbin thread is not well-known for its abundance of color variations. Unless you are using white, black or red upper thread, then you are probably going to have a tough time finding a matching bobbin thread. The solution is to wind your own bobbin thread.

Many commercial embroidery machines have the ability to wind bobbins and come with empty metal bobbin spools for that purpose. In addition, most sewing machines also have bobbin-winding capabilities, though you must ensure that the bobbin spool is compatible with your embroidery machine. After confirming that you have the ability to wind your own bobbin, then you have to decide what type of thread to use. I recommend polyester. Remember that the top thread and bobbin must match, so the same thread needs to be used for both. Polyester is stronger than rayon, thus it’s a better choice. (I’ve done this – it really works.) Oh, and by the way, if it’s a multi-colored design, guess what? You have to change the bobbin at each color change to match the upper thread. Thus, it’s recommended that you try to stick with single color designs.

Another critical point to consider when creating reversible embroidery is the backing. It’s imperative that you use tear-away backing, so that you don’t have any excess backing showing on the rear.

After you have created the matching bobbin and chosen the proper backing, you are all ready to sew, right? Wrong! Now you have to address the issue of design orientation. If you have a simple design such as a circle or square, it’s the same regardless of whether you view it from the front or back. But suppose you had to sew a directional arrow that pointed from left to right. When viewed from the rear, this arrow would be pointing from right to left. Is that acceptable for the customer?

Now take that a step further and think about lettering. If you were sewing the name Paulette on a directors chair, it would be perfect when viewed from one direction, but virtually unreadable when viewed from the opposite side, as it would be spelled in reverse, with each individual letter also being reversed. Believe it or not, there are situations where the customer is okay with one side being in reverse. The real question then becomes, which side faces what direction. Having worked with the local movie industry, I have encountered situations where they want the name to be readable when someone is sitting in the chair. That means the primary side of the seat back must face the rear. In other settings, the customer wants the name to be read from the front, as the sitter is rarely sitting, thus the primary side must face the front.