# Embroidery puckering issues



## Spanishflea (Feb 2, 2017)

Hey everybody I'm new here I'm new to Embroidery in general. I'm a graphic designer at a screen printing shop and I just got thrust into the embroidery world. I'm having a lot of issues with puckering. Especially on Dri-FIT shirts. I know that this can be caused by a variety of different things. We are a team Outfitter and Little League season is coming up and I want the designs to look as best as they can.

For one every design here is pretty dense, fill stitches are typically .34 mm spacing, and satin .36. we had a tech come in the other day and he said that the backing that we were using was too stiff. We're using a 1.9 ounce cutaway, but it is not soft, and a piece of no show poly mesh. When I hoop the designs I make sure that the shirt is tight but that it's not being stretched. We have no had any complaints and my boss doesn't seem to care that much, but I want the stuff I'm putting out to be god quality. Any insight would be great, thanks


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## Spanishflea (Feb 2, 2017)

Stuff like this, it's not the worst case ever but it's pretty typical.


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## SpiritGirl (Feb 24, 2011)

Dri fit shirts are finicky. There are so many different types. I am doing Under Armor shirts right now and some are super stretchy and some aren't stretchy at all. I usually use a light tear away and the poly mesh together for light colored shirts and a black light cut away for the dark shirts that aren't super stretchy. (Just because that's what we have) For the super stretchy ones I am trying a sticky backing with a layer of tear away. Not hooping the tear away just putting that under the garment when I put it on the machine.

I get that "puckering" on quite a few things, especially the denser designs. 
Your garment looks great in my opinion!


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## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

Try spraying your backing with tack spray, that will help hold the drifit. Also, adjust your tensions and try to sew a little less dense with proper underlayment.


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## Spanishflea (Feb 2, 2017)

Thank you gardenhillemb, I cannot tell you how much that helped. I tacked the two backings together and then put more tack spray on the backing I was pressing the garment to. There are zero signs of puckering and I have never seen this logo run without puckering a little. Here's a pic. Thanks so much


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## ralbert (Apr 10, 2016)

always an issue. you can try removing stitches, changing directions, etc... more backing too (but that is not good for lightweight shirts), also how tight or loose you hoop it can play a factor.. we tell people to look at the simple 1 color nike swish on the dry-fit. you will see a pucker in it most of the time. if Nike cannot get it to stop on their material, with their logo, how are we expected to. we had many larger order pulled from us, because we told them it would pucker. after a few weeks, they come back and realise that it just a fact of life for that material.


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## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

Glad we could help. That's what this forum is for.


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## LTPEMB (Jul 10, 2015)

puckering issues can be solved with about 80% of adjust your file. 15% adjust backings and toppings. 5% adjust machine settings.


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