Question for machine embroiderers.
 

I don't do machine embroidery but why is it that most home machine designs are stiff as a board? The embroidered tees I find in the store have soft flexible designs. It is a cost factor for the home machine embroider to make the designs soft?

if the designs are made for men's caps, then they should be dense. personally, i use my software to reduce the density of most designs i get from online. my own designs are not that dense.

A friend of mine has an expensive embroidery machine set up. She is always offering to do shirts and tees for me with any design I like. Her designs are so stiff I won't wear them against my skin. I was just wondering why the designs can't be soft and flexible.

I wouldn't think so. The higher the stitch count the stiffer it will be.Also the stabilizer might be different. I have had stiff store bought embroidery. One comes to mind is a sweatshirt that has a gingerbread house with cardinals (sucker for cardinals) I wear it as soon as Thanksgiving is over almost nonstop LOL.I have a bunch of Texas A&M tees that my DD gave me when she was attending that are stiff also. Beautiful but stiff. I haven't noticed my embroidery being any stiffer than store bought but I tend to like very detailed designs with high stitch counts and its rare I find one that I like store bought

she can use a backing that is for babies but it doesn't make the design softer just the feel to your skin

The clothes I buy with small or large embroidery designs are soft and flexible like part of the fabric, so I know it can be done just wondering why it isn't.

It all depends on the stabilizer you use. For a design with a high stitch count you need a heavier stabilizer. There are stabilizers that are soft against the skin. Perhaps you should do an online search for stabilizers and familiarize yourself with them.

Two things.
One is the weight of stablizer. Since there are literally hundreds to choose from, it can be difficult to choose the appropriate one for your project. This can greatly affect the stiffness of the design. Some people find one they like and use it on everything. Not a good idea.
The second one is the design itself. All designs are not appropriate for all situations! You need to choose a design with less stiches for something you want to remain flexible, like a t shirt or quilt block. Stitch intensive designs are great for tote bags, hats etc. If a design is very stitch heavy, and your software or machine has the capability, you can enlarge the design about 5-10%. Be careful! There often are two options. One option will make the design larger AND add additional stitches to compensate for the larger design. The other option (which is the one you want) will make the design larger but keep the SAME number of stitches as the orignal design, thus spreading them out a bit and making the overall design less dense. If you choose to do this, it is highly recommended to do a test stichout before putting it on your actual project.

I made my daughter tees for work and they aren't stiff. First of all I go in and reduce the stitch count as much as possible. Then I use a tearaway mesh that is so soft you wouldn't even think of it as stabilizer; its from floriani or RNK distributing and I use a wash away or tear away on the top to keep the stitches sitting up on top of the fabric.They don't have to be stiff and I wouldn't wear any that were. Try Hatched in Africa for designs that stitch out really nice, even great for a baby. If you go to RNK's website they have a stabilizing workbook to help you know what to use and when.

Exactly. Stiff machine embroidery feels cheap on soft clothes no matter how pretty the design. I think my friend needs some lessons. And her designs always have ripples, like the design is sucking in the fabric, in the fabric around the design. She said that was normal for machine embroidery