Welcome back to All About Machine Embroidery.
Today is a carry-over from yesterday’s topic of Tear-Away stabilizers.
Today’s Question: Why do I need Cut-Away stabilizer; wouldn’t Tear-Away work?
Well, yes and no. Cut-Away stabilizer is permanent and designed to remain in the fabric with the design. It is primarily used when embroidering on knits.
Why can’t you just use the Tear-Away on knits? Well, Tear-Away will eventually disappear after a few washings. If you were to embroider a design on something like a t-shirt, when the t-shirt was washed all of the stabilizer would be removed and the design would crumple.
Another reason is the nature of knits. If the stabilizer does not remain, then stitching out the design would cause small holes in the knit fabric.
Not a pretty site.
You hoop your stabilizer and fabric just like when using a Tear-away. However, when you layout your item to be embroidered, you can actually pin it to the Cut-Away stabilizer.
This is ideal for smaller items like kid’s onesies and t-shirts that don’t fit well into a hoop.
Just like Tear-Away, Cut-Away comes in a sticky-backed stabilizer. This type of stabilizer is intended for really hard to hoop fabrics.
One thing to remember with sticky-backed stabilizers, your needle can get gummed up from the ‘sticky’ stuff on the stabilizer.
This can cause your thread and/or needle to break. To avoid this, I keep packages of alcohol swabs next to my machine.
When I see the needle start to have trouble I just run the alcohol swab around it to get off any sticky residue. This works every time.
While Tear-Away may be be an all-purpose stabilizer; Cut-Away always leaves you with a stable design that will hold up under a variety of circumstances.
Use a Cut-Away for these types of projects:
- Lightweight wovens, knits, or sheers
- When embroidering a dense design
- Sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets
Tomorrow’s topic: Wash-Away stabilizers ~ who knew!
Baye says
October 19, 2012 at 12:22 pmHow timely this is for me. I just nearly ruined a knit jacket using a tear-away that was not sufficient. I was just about to go wandering about the net to find out how to do this right! Thanks.
Kristen Jones says
January 31, 2016 at 7:54 amFor knit onesies and bibs do I us a medium cutaway stabilizer? There are several different types of cutaway.
Leslie says
January 31, 2016 at 4:45 pmI usually use a light weight cut away – depending on the weight of the knit.
Linda Boyette says
July 14, 2016 at 1:55 pmWhat stablizers do you use for satin fabrics? Do you hoop? any other tips on embroidering satin?
Leslie says
July 14, 2016 at 5:56 pmI think a sticky-backed stabilizer would be your best choice. Always test before applying to your project.
Hester Jansen van Rensburgg says
June 12, 2017 at 6:56 amWhen embroidering on towels wha stabiliser would you use. I was lso told you can embroider a towel without putting it into a hoop. I cannot fathom this one out.
Leslie says
June 12, 2017 at 4:24 pmI prefer a sticky stabilizer on the back and a water soluble clear stabilizer on the front. I’ve never tried embroidering without the hoop. I think it would shift too much and ruin the towel.
SUSAN says
October 11, 2018 at 1:47 pmThis series to SO VERY helpful. I am going to embroider a monogram onto a woven fabric, do I need a back stabilizer and a water soluble stabilizer in the front as well. I want the best possible result and do not mind doing both if necessary as this is for my daughter’s wedding. Thanks for your advice.
Leslie says
October 11, 2018 at 1:58 pmFor BEST RESULTS you need the appropriate stabilizer for the back and the front. If the fabric can’t handle water, use a Heat Removable front stabilizer.