Machine Embroidery Stabilizers
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Today’s topic is Stabilizers.
Maybe you’ve seen stabilizers at the fabric store or possibly used them on an applique.
This unholy mess is my box of stabilizers.
Q. Just what are stabilizers?
A. Stabilizers are a {hooped} support under the fabric that you are embroidering. It is placed into the hoop before the fabric.
Q. Why are there so many stabilizers?
A. It is true, there are a lot of different stabilizers; however, there are four basic stabilizers that you need to know about: Tear-Away, Cut-Away, Wash-Away, and Iron-away.
Q. Can I embroidery without a stabilizer?
A. Never! You will ruin your project and possibly jam your machine.
Today, I am only going to discuss one type of stabilizer, Tear-Away.
Tear-Away stabilizer is just that; you (gently and carefully) tear it away from the back of the design you’ve just embroidered.
Tear-Away is generally an all-purpose stabilizer and works best with woven fabrics.
So, here’s how it works. Separate the outer hoop and the inner hoop.
Cut a piece of stabilizer slightly larger than the outer hoop.
Place fabric to be embroidered on top of stabilizer.
Place inner hoop on top and tighten the screw to make everything very tight.
Place the hoop in the machine and embroider your design.
Take the design out of the hoop and carefully, remove the Tear-Away stabilizer.
Didn’t this turn out nicely.
Some things to remember about Tear-Aways.
1. They work best on woven fabrics.
2. They remove easily.
3. There are Tear-Aways that have an adhesive surface. If you want to embroider something with a lot of loft, like terry cloth or fleece, you will need to use a Sticky-back Tear-away. (There are more details to this which I will share with Wash-Away stabilizers.)
That should cover the Tear-Away basics; tomorrow I will talk about Cut-Away stabilizers.
