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TIPS & TECHNIQUES
FEBRUARY 2017 images 75
Workwear is tough and hard-
wearing by design. Dense,
damage-resistant material is
the norm; reinforced seams,
secure closures and speciality finishes,
including stain-resistant and waterproof
coatings, are common. Workwear is
also characterised by an array of design
features, such as pockets, straps and
snap closures, which add valuable utility.
However, it’s often these same features
that make items of workwear a particularly
challenging canvas for decoration.
With the care and attention to detail that
goes into making workwear durable, it’s
essential that decorators shore up their
stitching for this labour-friendly gear. View
this challenge as an opportunity: business
owners, frustrated by the failure of an em-
broidery long before a garment was ready
for retirement, have become long-time
loyal customers of mine after I retooled
their designs for durability.
With the following tips, your shop can
serve up damage-resistant design treat-
ments that keep contractors coming back
for more.
Environmental concerns
As with any decoration, success starts
with a thorough customer interview. We
rayon can. Though many embroiderers
prefer rayon’s sheen and though it can be
ironed at a higher temperature, polyester
holds up to more abuse overall. Moreover,
new matte-finish polyester threads on the
market eschew the shine of traditional
threads, but exhibit extreme colourfast-
ness in outdoor, UV-exposed applications.
They are fantastic for subdued looks that
blend well with coarse materials, like the
classic duck cloth (tightly woven cotton
canvas fabric) so often seen in workwear.
The exception to the polyester rule
is – fire. For firefighters and powerline
create the best workwear solutions when
we know the environmental conditions
in which a garment will be used; make
sure to ask for details about the work your
customer does and the way the garment
will be washed before you design.
For example, is the customer likely to
scrape the garment against rough surfac-
es, expose it to chemicals, or encounter
extreme heat? Will your customer wear or
use a decorated item outdoors, expos-
ing it to more than the average dose of
UV light? Will they industrially launder
the garment and, if so, will the cleaners
use chlorine bleach in the process? Will
it require dry cleaning? Knowing these
conditions is key to making decisions
throughout the decorating process.
Material matters
Thread choice is critical to all embroi-
dery, but it’s never more so than when
stitching workwear. Knowing the proper-
ties of a given thread type lets you make
an educated decision about whether it
matches your customer’s specific require-
ments. When selecting thread, heat-press
printing material, appliqué fabric, or even
stabiliser, you should always know what
treatment your materials are made to
take.
Washing out
Be certain of your thread’s colourfast-
ness, particularly when customers intend
to industrially launder their workwear.
Nothing makes business customers more
frustrated than thread colours bleeding on
new, costly workwear after a single wash.
A quick look at any thread vendor’s colour
card reveals laundry care symbols and in-
structions like those you see on garment
tags. This information can (and should)
be used to provide washing instructions
specific to your customer’s decorated
apparel.
When in doubt, pick polyester
Polyester is the go-to thread for almost
any workwear. Polyester thread toler-
ates bleach, has a higher resistance to
breakage and abrasion than rayon, and it
survives standard dry-cleaning as well as
When the going
gets tough…
In the first of his exclusive series of articles for Images, award-winning
digitiser Erich Campbell explains how to create lasting embroidery for
hard-working garments
The symbols on the rayon thread chart in the foreground
forbid the use of bleach, unlike the polyester chart in
the background; however, the rayon can take a hotter
iron than the polyester – good things to knowwhen
choosing a thread for your next workwear project.
[Photograph courtesy of Celeste Schwartz]
Text on a jacket back is one scrape against a rough
surface away from shredding, but this edged fill stitch
is smooth and low to the surface of the jacket, thus less
likely to snag than a lofty, wide satin-stitched letter.
[Photograph courtesy of Celeste Schwartz]
This apron has seen the worst of a snag. Even though in
these letters I’d likely stay with a satin stitch, you can see
how an cut paired with a well-meaning attempt to pull at
a loose end can lead to disaster. Shorter stitches aren’t
always the best choice, but they can help keep a design
from coming apart in some cases. [Photograph courtesy
of Celeste Schwartz]