Impressions - August 2015 - 50

talking SHOP

Embroidery Production

Stitching the Changing
Face of Fleece
Follow these tips for better
embroidery on a new
generation of fleecewear.
By Steven Batts, Contributing Writer

ou've probably heard it before,
but the following old adage
always rings true: Change is the
only constant you can count on.
The technical revolution has not only
made information available, but it also has
fundamentally changed the way we live.
We don't get "snail mail," watch television or go to bricks-and-mortar stores
as much anymore. Instead, we send text
messages, stream movies and shop online.
If you don't adapt, it's harder to function
in modern society. I recently had to mail
an invoice to someone and was trying to
remember the last time I had done that.
The concept and actual practice seem so
foreign now.
In business, if your customers find you
behind the times, they may not be as inclined to do business with you. This goes
beyond just payment systems or a web
presence; it also can refer to your product
offerings. Staying updated by offering current styles is imperative in our business.
We also must be up to date on garmentdecorating techniques and trends.
Many of the product lines that we previously never thought would change have
been revised with new fabrics and dye processes. One example of this is fleecewear.
The sweat shirts of the past were big and
thick. Hoodies were only worn when training or working out (think Rocky Balboa),
and they came in a handful of colors, most
notably grey. To decorate them, embroiderers would simply slap a piece of heavy cutaway behind them and sew.
Now, we are seeing fleece become part
of a larger fashion statement. It is available
in every style and color under the rainbow,
and has gotten thinner, too.
As styles have changed, fleece has
become less about warmth. Performance
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Impressions | August 2015

Newer fleece styles have more stretch than ever and are
thinner. No-show mesh backing's sheer nature keeps it from showing
through the front of the garment.

knit materials are used in many fleecewear options, which now include the
garment-dyed and burnout varieties.
Weights also have changed; they have
gone from being made of heavy cotton
in the 7.5- to 9-ounce, range, to being
constructed of thin and light materials.
Many are in the T-shirt weight range of
6-6.5 ounces.
The construction of today's fleecewear
has a bearing on how we approach embroidering it. The standard heavy cutaway
stabilizer often is too thick and will show
through the thin material. However, fleece

is stretchier than ever before, so it needs
the additional stabilization.
Fortunately, many of the issues embroiderers face when working with fleece are
the same as the now-established line of
performance knit golf shirts and tees. The
difference is that designs tend to be larger
on fleecewear, instead of being limted to
left-chest and sleeve placements.

GET THE RIGHT BACKING
As with any garment, choosing
the right backing to stabilize it is important. Newer fleece styles have more stretch
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Impressions - August 2015

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