STABILIZERS
TEAR-AWAY
For most designs, a medium weight tear-away will 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 does not leave a fuzzy edge, especially when
creating “in-the-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 tearaway
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
info. 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 heat-away.
Toppings are used when stitching a 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 meltaway
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
on stabilizer, using the correct stabilizer is very important. We
recommend using a lightweight or No-show Mesh cut-away
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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