Thank you for you interest in Dalco Easy-Split Designs. Your Easy-Split Design disk contains two stitch files, one for the left side of the design and one for the right side (illustration 1). If the split design is two-color, both colors of the left design are on one file and both colors for the right side are on the other file. For maximum efficiency, we suggest stitching all the left sides first, then stitching all the right sides.

Reminder: Your EasySplit sew disk is set-up to sew right and left sides of your design as you look at your hooped garment.

1. Starting with the left side of the garment (the side with the button holes), lay the lettering on the shirt between the second and third button holes to determine the location that looks best and avoids the buttons (Photo 1). Using tailor’s chalk or a disappearing ink pen, mark where the upper left and lower left points (points A & B in illustration 1) of the design meet the shirt placket edge.

2. Then, take the shirt with the lettering to your hooping board and mark both vertical and horizontal reference points on the board (Photo 2). Use the vertical line for positioning the shirt edge, making sure the lettering fits in the size hoop you’ve chosen. To indicate the button hole positions, make horizontal marks that align with the bottom of the second button hole and the top of the third button hole.


3. Hoop a piece of tearaway or pressure-sensitive (sometimes called peel-n-stick) backing and place the hoop in your hooping board (Photo 3). Peel away the protective coating from the backing, revealing the sticky surface. (Instead of pressure-sensitive backing, you can use a medium-weight tearaway coated with adhesive spray.) Note: The shirt is NOT in the hoop at this time.

4. While the hoop is still in the hooping board, position the shirt (without the lettering) on the sticky surface of the backing, using the marks on the board to line up the shirt edge and the button holes (Photo 4). Smooth the shirt onto the backing. Check the position of the lettering one more time to make sure it is positioned correctly in the hoop and between the button holes. Remove the lettering from the shirt.

5. Load the hoop with the design in place onto the machine. Manually jog the hoop to position the active needle to the mark you made earlier (point A, illustration 1), where the upper left point of the lettering meets the placket edge (Photo 5). Start the machine. The machine will drop four registration stitches. Stop the machine after the first two stitches and pull down the presser foot to make sure the stitches are in the correct position – at the mark where the upper left point of the lettering meets the placket edge. If necessary, jog the machine to the proper position. The stitches should be at the very edge of the placket, not on the backing and not too far onto the shirt. Note: This initial positioning is critical in setting your machine for additional shirts. Take the time to do it correctly.

6. Restart the machine. It will drop the other two stitches, move down the edge of the placket edge to the lower left point where the lettering meets the edge (point B, illustration 1) and drop four more stitches. If these stitches do not align properly with the shirt edge, adjust the shirt until they do.

7. Sew out the left half of the design. The program will sew an outline stitch outline for placement of the design pieces, then move to the far left side of the design to allow for placement of the appliqué (Photo 6). Position the appliqué in the outline using spray adhesive or an appliqué iron (Photo 7). Note: It is not necessary to remove the hoop from the machine. Restart the machine and it will stitch down the design (Photo 8). A two-color design will repeat this part of the process.


8. After all the left sides have been completed, take one shirt and button it. Mark the right side of the shirt (the side with the buttons) at the upper and lower points (points C & D in illustration 1) where the lettering meets the placket edge (Photo 9).
Note: These marks will NOT be at the edge of the shirt placket on the right side.

9. Take the shirt to your hooping board and mark both vertical and horizontal reference points on the board as you did for the left side, using the vertical line for positioning the shirt placket edge and making horizontal marks to correspond with the buttons (Photo 10). Again, make sure the lettering fits into the hoop.

10. Position the right side of the shirt on the tearaway or pressure-sensitive backing following the instructions for the left side (Photo 11).

11. Load the hoop into the machine. Manually jog the hoop to position the active needle to the mark you made earlier (point C, illustration 1). Again, four registration stitches will drop. Make sure these stitches align with the marks you made earlier (Photo 12).

12. Sew the right sides as you did the left sides (Photo 13).

Photo 14

13. Remove the tearaway backing from both sides of the shirt, button it and the two halves of the design should match (Photo 14) .

Note: When stitching split-front designs, precise registration is essential for a clean, professional look. We strongly recommend using a hooping board or device to assist in registration.

Call (800) 288-3252 to order Dalco Athletic Easy-Split Designs, $ 25.00 per design disk. To speed the ordering process, please have the following measurements handy when you call: 

1. Distance (in inches) between the second and third buttonholes.

2. The placket width of the shirt.