Puff-N-Stuff – Part II Embroidery Project

RULE #1 – During sewing, the section which overlays the foam must be stitched on all sides in order to allow the foam to be removed.

Use and edge-walk underlay (contour underlay) around all sides of the element that will, such that the foam is perforated around the perimeter during sewing. This ensures that the foam can be torn away evenly and cleanly.

RULE #2 – Only satin stitches can be used with foam.

It is important that no stitches penetrate the foam except where it needs to be torn away, which leads to the second rule. Do not use fill stitches or any type of traditional underlay patterns, other than the edge-walk. Underlay such as parallel, zig-zag, perpendicular, etc would flatten the foam and ruin the 3D aspect.

RULE #3 – Increase stitch density 50% - 100%.

If you mentally picture the sewing process using 3D foam, you should realize that the foam is being compressed by the stitch formation process, thus it exerts an upward pressure on the stitches that cover it. This upward push causes the stitches to separate somewhat, so they appear less dense than when sewn directly on a flat surface. Increasing the stitch density will resolve this situation.

RULE #4 – Increase column widths 25% - 50%.

3D foam elements look neater when they are full and balanced, whereas very narrow foam elements usually look jagged and uneven. Thus, it is desirable to go with wider column widths. Of course, you will need to experiment as different situations will require different settings.

RULE #5 – Match the foam color and thread color.

Every attempt should be made to match the foam color to that of the thread. Contrasting colors should be avoided, as they tend to “bleed-through” the embroidery, leading to an inferior look. Even with the increased density as described in Rule #3, it would be hard to completely cover white foam with black thread. (You may have already experienced this when applying black embroidery to a white shirt.) Because the spectrum of color available in foam is quite small, you should carefully design each foam project, rather than just arbitrarily adding foam elements to an existing logo.