I made a mess by trying to embroider a design on a heavy duty T-shirt. I made several mistakes during the process. I used a ballpoint needle in my machine which is recommended for T-shirt knit.
I also used cut-away stabilizer which is also the recommendation to supply more stability to the fabric.
My design was not looking good and I could tell that the bobbin thread was coming up to the surface. This usually indicates that the bobbin needs to be re-threaded because the tension is off. I was using white bobbin thread and the initial thread on top was an off-white or beige looking color. Instead of stopping the machine, I let it continue which was a mistake. I received a warning sign from the machine that said an error had been made and that the machine was stopped for safety.
I could not even remove the shirt, needle, nor the hoop from the machine. I had to use a razor blade to cut the birds-nest of thread that was caught beneath the shirt. I had to also take a loose the needle plate to remove all of the thread that was bogged down into the machine where it could not be reached on the surface.
I thought that I had done permanent damage to my new embroidery machine. I was very careful as I disassembled the needle plate, the needle, and the wad of thread in the machine.
I will never do that again. When I can see that something is wrong with the process, I will stop the machine in the future to take care of the problem.
It was a total mess and the shirt looks crazy. Oh well, I am still learning and this was definitely a learning experience.
I will try to embroider something on the back of the shirt just to test out another design. I can always wear it around the house.
Enjoy your day.