Irish Dance dress embroidery…nowadays there is no clear cut definition of what this should look like. It used to consist mainly of recognizably Celtic designs, but now anything can serve as inspiration for embellishing a solo dress. The only consistent factor is its inconsistency!
But the one thing we embroiderers want is to have a clear, smooth product. One definite challenge in achieving this is the Celtic knot in all its forms. The complicated series of overs and unders presents unique considerations because the stitch out does not happen in a smooth, unbroken fashion. To accommodate the changing overlaps, a digitizer, and hence the embroidery machine, must move from place to place to establish the unders before going back to form the overs. This disjointed stitching creates uneven pulling on the fabric which can create puckering and warping of the fabric which then contributes to joins that do not match. Below is an example.
Very often a factor in this issue is fabric that is not hooped tightly enough so that the fabric cannot be moved. Are some hoops better than others? Most likely…I know that the hoops I use for my commercial machine are better than the hoops for my home embroidery machine at holding the fabric. But because I was tired of seeing my Celtic knot designs out of alignment, I have developed for myself a specific way of preparing for the embroidery.
First, the fabric must be interfaced and then stabilized with fusibles. For those of you thinking this does not seem conducive to creating a comfortable costume for dancing, well, you are correct! Most Irish Dance dressmakers do their best to make these dresses as comfortable as possible, but in some instances the amount of embroidery dictates a certain stiffness that the dancer is more than happy to deal with in the name of Irish Dance fashion. And, because so many skirts are actually very stiff or have stiff parts, this heavy stabilizing actually helps achieve the desired crisp look.
Most importantly, though, this interfacing and stabilizing helps the fabric stand up to what can be very dense stitching.
Whether or not your base fabric to be embroidered is stabilized with tricot or woven fusible interfacing is totally up to you. I personally feel that all fabric, including the heavy velvet, will support embroidery and function better in general if it is first interfaced with a fusible. I do remove as much stabilizer as I can from the bodice and sleeves and soft skirts when the embroidery is done, but the interfacing remains to give the base fabric the body and support it needs both as clothing and as the base for the embroidery.
After the fabric is interfaced, fuse Pellon Decorbond to the areas to be embroidered. This is fairly stiff interfacing which helps support the stitches. Yes, there is softer, cheaper stuff, but I have found it does not work as well as I want it to. When I receive fabric that uses inferior stabilizer, I then have to fuse Decorbond myself which adds to the cost. The excess Decorbond can be cut away, which is what I do, or it can be left to help achieve the level of stiffness desired.
You can send the fabric to me to be embroidered two different ways: uncut and cut to size. I prefer uncut because there is always some “shrinkage” of the fabric caused by the embroidery. That is not to say that there will be noticeable warping (I work very hard to achieve a smooth, non-puckered result!), but it is better to cut your newly traced pattern piece after the embroidery is done to ensure that the piece is the correct size and shape.
If you are sending me a large, uncut piece, please mark the area and orientation to be embroidered. It must all be interfaced and stabilized.
If you are sending me a cut piece, the piece of Decorbond should be bigger than the embroidery by at least 3 inches on each side. Once it is securely fused, there are placement lines to be drawn so that I can embroider the design in the right place.
To illustrate, I am using the center front panel of a three panel dress. This has been cut out and the silver pleats already sewn and fused in place. (As stated above, sending uncut pieces is preferable. I am using a cut piece here to better illustrate marking it.)
Below is the wrong side, interfaced with a fusible tricot fusible.
This next pic shows the piece stabilized with Decorbond. The center of the area to be embroidered is marked by the vertical line.
Next to be marked in this case is the lower edge of the design. I mark this place for this design because I want all of the skirt designs to be 1 inch from the finished hem.
On the fabric that you send me, I will need the center line for every design and then one more line or mark for placement of the edge of a design. For the skirt and sleeves, the distance from the hem should be shown. For the bodice, the distance from the finished neckline should be shown.
I will send the embroidered pieces back to you with the Decorbond untrimmed. I do trim it away from the embroidery because I feel that the décorbond pulls and wrinkles when it is ironed several times during the construction process. Again, it is up to you whether or not you keep the excess Decorbond.
Taoknitter Arts 