OVERVIEW | stabilizers
Tear-away
For most designs, a medium weight tear-away will ll be
be
sufficient. This stabilizer is best for designs stitched on a
woven fabric and that are not too stitch intensive. This type
of stabilizer is also used for some in-the-hoop projects
because it tears away clean and does not have to be
washed. Be sure to use a tear-away that tears clean and
does not leave a fuzzy edge especially when creating “inthe
hoop” projects. If the fabric or placement is too difficult
for you to hoop, use a temporary spray adhesive with the
tear-away stabilizer.
Sticky back tear-away
If you prefer not to use spray adhesive, a sticky back
tear-away stabilizer works great when you can’t hoop the
garment or a bulky towel. Some have an adhesive, like a
sticker, and some are activated by water. If you are using
sticky back or wet-and-stick stabilizers, always test it on a
scrap of fabric to be sure it removes clean. If you do not like
the results, use the spray adhesive method
discussed above.
Cut-away
This type of stabilizer stays behind the embroidery design
indefinitely to help hold the stitches. There are a few
different weights of cut-away: a lightweight or No-show
Mesh, a medium weight and a heavyweight. The No-show
Mesh version works great on lightweight knit or stretchy
fabrics and is also used in the quilt blocks, see Stabilizers
for Quilting Designs for more information. The medium and
heavyweights are best used on thicker knits, like sweatshirts,
or if a design is very stitch intensive, over 50,000.
Water soluble
Water soluble stabilizers are great for creating freestanding
embroidery designs. Be sure to look for versions that are
fibrous, meaning they look like a dryer sheet versus clear
like a piece of plastic wrap. We find these fibrous water
soluble stabilizers do not stretch or perforate while stitching
and produce much better freestanding embroidery designs
Topping
There are two types of topping: water soluble and heataway.
Toppings are used when stitching fabrics that have a
loft or texture, you do not need to use a topping on regular
cotton. Water soluble comes in handy as a topping for
difficult fabrics like minky, fleece, and waffle weave, or when
embroidering on garments like sweaters or sweatshirts.
When using this, make sure the fabric you use can get wet.
Heat-away or melt-away topping is best used on towels or
terry cloth since it remains underneath the embroidery after
use and washing. This topping also works well on fabrics
you cannot wet, like velvet or velour.
Stabilizers for quilting designs
Since the Mix & Match quilting designs are stitched directly
onto stabilizer, using the correct stabilizer is very important.
We recommend using a lightweight or No-show Mesh cutaway
stabilizer as the base. To insure optimum embroidery
results, hoop the stabilizer as tightly as possible. These
designs need to have a stable base. We also suggest doing
a test with your brand of stabilizer to be sure you like
the results.
Light stitch designs are designs that have very few stitches
in them. Light stitch designs have less than 15,000 stitches;
folded fabric designs and free motion designs fall into this
category as well. Medium stitch designs are designs with
15,000-40,000 stitches and include most of the Mix & Match
designs. All of these types of designs only require one layer
of No-show Mesh stabilizer.
Heavy stitch designs are designs with more than 40,000
stitches. Use two layers of No-show Mesh, and you may
also need to back the fabric with fusible interfacing. Fusible
interfacing will eliminate puckering and distortion in your
embroidery designs. A medium weight, iron-on, woven
fusible such as Pellon Ultra-Weft 860F works well. Avoid
thick craft interfacing because they will make the fabric too
thick. To use the interfacing, simply iron it on to the back of
the entire piece of fabric. You will notice an improvement
right away.
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