Introduction
Trapunto is a stitching technique in which a design, outlined on one side
of fabric, is padded on the opposite side, creating a dimensional accent.
Machine trapunto is achieved by stacking fashion fabric on one or more batting layers and
stitching a design with water-soluble thread on the fabric right side. The excess batting
is then trimmed away close to the stitching. Backing fabric is placed behind the trapunto
design and the entire design is restitched with a machine-embroidery thread or other
decorative thread such as rayon, silk, metallic or iridescent. Once stitching is
completed, the piece is immersed in cool water allowing both the water-soluble markings
and threads to dissolve. Next, the fabric is blocked and air-dried. When completely dry,
the trapuntoed fabric is ready to be cut and used in garment construction.
Ideally the technique is used on washable fabrics, since water is required to remove the
marking lines and water-soluble thread. However, it can be used on some dry-clean only
fabrics if they're first rough-cut allowing enough excess fabric that the shrinkage
incurred won't affect cutting the final pattern piece. Keep in mind, shrinkage may affect
the appearance and texture of dry-clean only fabric.
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Going to Batt
Trapunto adds highlights to a basic jacket.
- Shawl collar jacket pattern
(We used Simplicity 9138, View C.)
- Fabric in yardage given on pattern envelope, plus 1/8 yard
- Notions as given on pattern envelope
- Fusible interfacing
- Water-soluble marking pen
- Water-soluble thread
- Size 11/75 and 16/100 machine embroidery needles
- Rayon embroidery thread
- Darning foot
- Safety pins
- Batting
- Light box
- Tracing paper and black permanent marker
- Blunt-end scissors
- Repositionable tape
Tools of the Trade
Note: The ability to drop the feed dogs on your sewing machine and
maneuver the fabric in any direction makes it easier to stitch a trapunto design. If your
machine doesn't have this feature, tape a business card over the feed dogs and set the
stitch length to 0.
- A size 11/75
embroidery machine needle works well for water-soluble thread stitching. It's
designed for use with specialty threads that may break, shred or split easily.
- The sky's
the limit when it comes to your choice of surface thread. Heavyweight embroidery
thread (50-weight) is ideal. In the featured garment we used a size 16/100 needle and two
50-weight threads together through the needle. The double thread emphasizes the stitched
design.
- Many
machines come with a custom darning foot. The darning foot works by moving up and
down with the needle as it stitches. When the needle is in the down position, the darning
foot is down, holding the fabric in place then lifts when the needle is up. This allows
for free fabric movement--forward, backward and side to side--as the design stitching
requires.
- Two layers
of cotton batting were used in the featured jacket. Shrink cotton batting before
use by soaking it in the washing machine filled with warm water. Note: It isn't
necessary to preshrink polyester batting. Care must be taken in removing the water so that
the batt isn't stretched or torn. Tumble dry on medium heat to finish the shrinking. Using
more than one batting thickness will increase the trapunto effect, but if the layering is
too thick, the batting will tend to distort the fabric.
- If you don't
have a light box, create one using a portable fluorescent light, a sheet of glass
(cover the edges with masking tape to prevent cuts) and two pieces of wood placed on
opposite sides under the glass. Or, tape your pattern and fabric to the window, letting
the natural light and window glass become your light box.
- Use blunt-end
scissors to trim the excess batting from the stitched design.
Continued On Page 2 - Let's Machine Trapundo - How To!
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