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PPB
• OCTOBER 2015
GROW
THE ABCs OF GARMENT DECORATING
Embroidery and
Rhinestones
Two other special types of garment deco-
rating processes are embroidery and
rhinestones, both of which are popular in
the commercial and home markets
through the use of stock designs.
However, custom layouts can be created
by embroiderers and rhinestone artists
who have the capabilities to manually cre-
ate custom, digitized files from submitted
art. In this process, an embroiderer can
take the provided art file or redraw the
provided image and assign the proper
stitches to recreate the design. The file
can then be read by the embroidery
machine to sew out the image. A rhine-
stone image is created by interpreting the
provided design as a series of circles. The
file can then be used to create a template
for the rhinestone layout which is then
pressed onto the shirt, or it can be used
by machines that apply the rhinestones to
the garment.
Dye Sublimation
This is a digital printing process where special sublimation paper is run through a
dye-sublimation inkjet printer. The paper is then placed on top of the substrate (a
shirt, for example) and then pressed onto it using a heat press. The heat from the
press converts the ink into a gas that injects itself into the fibers of the shirt as
opposed to laying on top of the fabric. Dye sublimation is ideal for creating shirts
with oversized images or full-coverage prints, but it only works on white or light-col-
ored polyester garments.
Print-cut Decorating
Print-cut decoration uses heat pressing like dye sublimation as well as digital print-
ing. Instead of printing the image on paper, it is printed on vinyl material made
specifically for garments and then cut away, either on the same machine or on a
separate cutter. The excess vinyl material is “weeded” away, leaving only the
image area. The image is then pressed onto a shirt with a heat press.