Fixing Bird Nesting and Heavy Stitching on a Satin Embroidery Design

A client was stitching this 4 inch custom dog outline embroidery design and noticed the satin stitches were becoming extremely tight during the stitch-out. The design started showing bird nesting underneath the fabric, especially around the satin border sections.
Even after lowering the upper thread tension several times, the stitching was still becoming heavy and unstable during embroidery.

Featured image used as case study image.

The Problem

The client noticed:

satin stitches looked overly dense
thread was bunching underneath the hoop
bird nesting was forming during stitching
certain satin sections were not laying cleanly
At first, the client believed the embroidery file density was too high.

What We Found

After reviewing the file, we reduced the satin stitch density and sent the updated design to the client multiple times for testing. However, the bird nesting issue was still happening during stitching.

At this point, we explained that the problem appeared to be more related to the machine setup rather than the embroidery file itself, but the client was still unsure because they had stitched many designs before without issues.
We later found the issue was more related to:
machine tension
stabilizer support
hoop setup
fabric stability during stitching

The client was initially testing with:

lighter tear-away backing
thinner material
incorrect hoop setup during one test

These conditions made the satin stitching unstable and increased thread bunching underneath the fabric.

What We Did

To troubleshoot the issue further, we first reduced the satin stitch density and sent updated versions of the design for additional testing.
Since the client was still experiencing bird nesting, we completed an in-house test stitch-out on another embroidery machine to verify the file.
The test stitched cleanly without thread buildup or nesting issues.
We then guided the client to:
use stronger stabilizer support
test on thicker towel material
recheck machine tension
improve hoop stability during stitching
After switching to doubled stabilizer and thicker material, the design stitched much more smoothly.

Why It Worked

Satin stitch embroidery places more pull on fabric compared to lighter stitch types.

If the material is too soft or not stabilized properly:

stitches can sink into the fabric
thread may collect underneath
bird nesting can occur
satin borders may appear overly heavy

By improving the backing support and switching to thicker material, the fabric remained more stable inside the hoop during stitching.

This allowed:

smoother satin stitch flow
cleaner thread control
reduced bunching underneath
better stitch formation overall

Final Results

Bird nesting issue was resolved
Satin stitching became much cleaner
Reduced thread buildup underneath
Better stitch quality throughout the design
Final stitch-out looked balanced and production-ready

Client Feedback

"“I doubled the stabilizer and changed to hand towel and it worked!”"

— Tammy

Project Gallery

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