Welcome to Day 9 of my October series: All About Machine Embroidery
If you are visiting for the first time, here’s a quick recap. Since October 1st, I’ve been exclusively blogging on one particular subject, machine embroidery.
Catch up with my previous posts here.
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.
Elizabeth says
August 30, 2015 at 6:35 pmHi!
What brand of stabilizers do you use and what is your favorite?
E
Leslie says
August 30, 2015 at 6:59 pmI really like the ones made by Babylock. They seem to perform best on my Bernina.
Marsha says
January 8, 2016 at 7:58 pm:)) I really like everything you share in your articles. So detail and easily to understand for beginner. Thanks for your sharing!
Judith Kornafel says
February 24, 2016 at 6:55 pmhow do I stop the puckering 🙁
Leslie says
February 24, 2016 at 7:02 pmThis will depend upon which stabilizer you are using. Generally, puckering can occur when you use the wrong stabilizer, don’t tighten your project, or use the wrong thread.
Laila says
December 12, 2016 at 8:42 amHi there,
I have brother se400 machine.I cannot import the designs to the machine.I use free downliaded software from brother website.Can you help me solving this issue?
Thank you,
Laila
Leslie says
December 12, 2016 at 4:57 pmI suggest you visit a local Brother dealer in your area. They will have the best information.
Pat Nazaro says
October 5, 2017 at 1:57 pmI have a 4×4 hoop and for stabilizer I iron coffee filters from the dollar store flat and use them. It works for most things and I can try lots of things without much expense. Someone posted this idea on the Internet and it sure works for me.
Leslie says
October 8, 2017 at 7:20 pmGreat tip!