[Top] The My Little Pony shirt with different sublimation printed designs on each side of the
sequins; [Bottom] The Super Hero shirt with the same design on both sides in different colours
A recent shopping trip was interrupted by a marvellous find at Primark – T-shirts displaying a picture created from sequins. So far, so normal. Brush the sequins in the opposite direction, however, and a new picture is displayed. Kid (and adult) heaven.
It’s a clever, effective design that is easy to replicate, explains Andrew Kenny, founder of the London Embroidery Studio. There are two methods, depending on what type of design is required. The first, as seen on the My Little Pony T-shirt, is to sublimation print the design on to the panel of silver sequins on the T-shirt, then flip them the other way and print the next design. Sequins are good candidates for sublimation printing, Andrew reports.
The other way, as seen on the Super Hero T-shirt that has the same design on each side but in different colours, is to use double-sided sequins.
Andrew, who uses Wilcom software, says a normal, regular sequin fill will work well, but the line of stitching must run across the top of the sequins so the design can be flipped up and down, rather than through the middle. It’s a straightforward process that just requires a sequin attachment for the embroidery machine; he uses Tajima.
However, the stumbling block, according to Andrew, will be finding the sequins. As a high end, bespoke embroidery company, London Embroidery Studio has had sequins made for them for some jobs, but for everyday jobs the minimumorders for sequins are usually “humongous”.
If you know a good supplier of sequins, contact us with their details.
www.primark.com
www.londonembroiderystudio.com
If you would like to nominate a garment for decorated product of the month – your own or another designer’s – email us at editorial@images-magazine.com, putting ‘Decorated product of the month’ as the subject.
