What Is Pull Compensation in Embroidery?

Draw a circle in your digitizing software, fill it and sew it. What comes off the machine is usually not a circle. It is slightly narrower in the direction the stitches run, and slightly longer at right angles to them. Outlines that should sit on the edge of a fill leave a gap, and letters look thinner than the font on screen.

That distortion is not a machine fault. It is what happens when thread is pulled tight through fabric, and correcting it in the file is called compensation. Wilcom notes that without push and pull compensation, circles can flatten into ovals.^[5]

Pull and push: what actually happens

• Pull acts along the stitch. Erich Campbell explains that as each stitch is formed and pulls tight, it slightly shortens along its length.^[1] In a satin column the stitches run across the column, so the column's width shrinks. Ink/Stitch's documentation says the same thing in plain terms: satin stitches pull the fabric together, resulting in a column narrower than you draw.^[10]
• Push acts at right angles to the stitches. Stitches laid close together push against each other.^[3] Hatch describes the effect as the stitching that pushes out at a right angle to the line of stitching.^[4] In a satin column, that shows up at the ends: Wilcom notes that long satin columns often end up longer than digitized.^[5]

A common mistake, including in an earlier version of this article, is to describe these the other way round. The satin example is the easiest way to keep them straight: the stitches run across the column, and the column gets narrower. Wilcom's blog sums it up as Pull makes stitches narrower and Push makes stitches longer,^[5] where "stitches" means the stitched shape, such as a satin column: it sews narrower across its width and longer along its length. That agrees with the descriptions above once you notice that a column's length runs at right angles to its stitches.

How pull compensation is applied

Pull compensation makes stitches extend slightly beyond the outline of an object, so that after the fabric draws in, the sewn shape ends up the intended size.^[6] Software offers it in a few forms:

• A fixed distance. Ink/Stitch, for example, expands each pair of needle penetrations outward from the center of the satin by a fixed length.^[10] BERNINA's software sets 0.2 mm automatically, which its help says suits most designs, while recommending 0.4 mm with automatic digitizing.^[13]
• A percentage of the width. Ink/Stitch also offers additional compensation that varies as a percentage of stitch width, so wider columns get more.^[10] Deborah Jones, writing in Impressions, uses percentage compensation for lettering and finds that about 15% does the trick.^[11]
• Different values per side. Wilcom applies the same value to both sides by default, but notes that one side of an object may sit directly on the fabric and pull in more, while the other sits on top of a fill, which pulls less. ^[7] Since version 28, EmbroideryStudio lets you set different values for each side.^[8]
• Automatic by fabric. Wilcom and Hatch can apply a recommended amount automatically when you choose a fabric.^[7][4]

Units are not universal. Some software works in millimeters, some in percentages, and mySewnet uses its own unitless scale,^[12] so a value from one program does not carry straight into another.

What changes the amount needed

Campbell is direct about it: there is no one amount of pull and push compensation that solves every material.^[1] The main variables:

Fabric and stabilizer

Wilcom's help gives indicative pull compensation values as a guideline:^[7]

The pattern matches the other sources: knits stretch more than wovens, so compensation must increase,^[5] and mySewnet notes that thicker fabrics usually look better with higher compensation.^[12] Wilcom adds that the right setting also varies with the hooping method and the width of the object.^[7] We did not find published values for piqué, performance knits or towels, so treat those as fabrics to test rather than to look up.

Stitch type

Wilcom: Satin Stitch has the most visible pull effect. Fill shows less, but large fill areas are still affected.^[5]

Underlay and backing

Underlay, backing and topping help reduce distortion, but Wilcom's help says they should be combined with pull compensation, not used instead of it.^[6] An edge-run underlay helps anchor the stitch edges against pulling in.^[5]

Stitch direction on stretchy fabric

On knits, the direction of a fill matters. Campbell warns that a 45-degree fill can distort shapes because many materials stretch considerably on that angle, and suggests that 15 to 20 degrees off horizontal is generally enough to reduce edge splitting.^[1]

Why small columns suffer most (illustrative arithmetic)

Campbell reports that on fairly stable materials a satin column will likely thin by between .17mm and .25mm.^[2] Applying that range to columns of different widths (our arithmetic, not a test):

If the loss is roughly the same distance regardless of width, narrow strokes lose a much larger share of themselves, which is why under-compensated small lettering looks thin first. Campbell's practical rule of thumb fits this: if you see half a millimeter of gap in an initial sample, you know you need at least that much compensation.^[2] For more on tiny text, see why small embroidery lettering becomes unreadable.

Push compensation

Push is smaller but real. Campbell puts it at often 0.13–0.20 mm for a full-density column in 40-weight thread, and notes that it also happens in fills, at right angles to the fill direction.^[1] Uncorrected, satin ends overshoot and fills push past the outlines meant to contain them.

The usual correction is to shorten objects slightly in the push direction. For example, Campbell suggests stopping a satin short and ending a fill that same distance before it reaches the outline.^[3] On a circle, the classic fix is to draw the shape slightly wider along the stitch direction and slightly shorter across it, so pull and push bring it back to round.^[1][3]

Diagnosing compensation problems

The last row uses Campbell's test for separating file problems from production problems, which he illustrates with thread breaks: problems in a digitized file tend to happen at about the same point over repeated testing, while random problems point to the machine, thread path or materials.^[1] The reverse is not guaranteed: a gap that repeats can still come from a setting that is the same on every run, such as the same loose hooping or light backing, so rule those out before changing the file. Shapes that come out wider and heavier than the artwork can mean the opposite, too much compensation, so check against the artwork rather than assuming more is always safer.

Why resizing affects compensation

Compensation is set for a size. When a machine file is simply scaled, its stitches stretch or squeeze rather than being recalculated, and Wilcom cautions that scaling a machine file by more than ±10% lets density changes affect quality.^[9] Some software can recalculate stitch files over a wider range; Embrilliance, for example, describes a stitch processor for resizing existing stitch files.^[14] For a significant size change, the safest route is the editable working file or re-digitizing, which is one reason a jacket-back design does not shrink into a good left chest file. For the format side of this, see DST vs PES and other stitch-file formats.

When you order, tell your digitizer the fabric and the finished size so compensation is set for them. Our embroidery digitizing service builds files for the garment you name.