www.images-magazine.com 64 images DECEMBER 2022 TIPS & TECHNIQUES Have you been asked to recreate a photo in thread? Dominic Bunce of embroidery digitiser David Sharp offers a clever yet straightforward solution Picture perfect Working with photos can be a time-consuming digitising practice. While any digitiser worth their salt will relish the opportunity to design a good photographic scene, optimising shading and realistic features, there is an alternative that removes the complexity of the design and uses just one thread colour: mixed media. By combining polyester thread with sublimation print, full-colour photographic images are possible even for those with a single-needle machine. It runs extremely quickly with no colour changes and minimal trims. In the example here, we digitised the photo with a solid tatami base stitch. We over-stitched some details in certain areas to give the relief look, using a mixture of run stitches, satins and tatami fills at alternative angles. The design was completed with a black satin border to help prevent any bleed from over-printing, as the sublimation print will only show on the white thread, not black (we used Madeira Polyneon thread). Once the design has been embroidered, remove the garment from the frame as normal. The 38,597-stitch design, measuring 155mm by 90mm, took 40 minutes to stitch on a Melco EMT16X Give the embroidery a quick heat press for a few seconds – this helps smooth down the print area. Sublimation can be unforgiving, so it is important for there to be as smooth an area to work with as possible. If it is a very uneven area, you will get an uneven print finish, with varying colours. Next mirror the photo – it is important to do this, otherwise it will appear back to front once applied. We printed it on an Epson SureColour SC-F500 from Xpres. We then cut the print out, as close to the print as possible, and positioned it on the embroidery area. You may find some heat tape will help to hold it in place; when moving the heat press over there is nothing worse than knocking the print and pressing it down in the wrong position – we have all been there! We used a medium to firm pressure on a Schulze heat press at 180°C for 70 seconds. Remove the transfer paper and you have your finished article – the perfect design, giving the look of being fully stitched, when it is in fact a print on embroidery. www.davidsharp.co.uk ... then, the sublimation print is heat pressed on to the embroidery The design is embroidered in white polyester thread...
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