Sadia’s Blog

Several times you will hear the word stabilizer or backings in reference to Machine Embroidery. What are the two and how exactly do they help in machine embroidery. I had this question asked me not too long ago and as I sat finishing up the PDF for the Secret Garden II collection, I  decided to do a bit of write up on stabilizers. What do the two words mean….basically the same…as far as machine embroidery is concerned.

As far as the types of stabilizers, there are a gazillion out there in the market. Hmmm, well, technically there are only a handful of companies that produce the stabilizers…but a gazillion that market them under various names. Stabilizers or backings are a necessity in machine embroidery. Without it, your embroidery can pucker, outlines can be way off line and a number of other disasters. Then again, depending upon the type of fabric, one needs to apply the proper stabilizer as well. One cannot use say a tearaway on a knit shirt….your embroidery will buckle, and the stitches will not sew properly…resulting in a poorly embroidered shirt.

When I first started machine embroidery, I really didn’t know much and whatever my dealer told me was the “word”. I think I must have spent quite a truck load of cash into stabilizers because I needed one for that type of fabric…another for another type of fabric and so forth. That was then…this is now….I learned. Over the years, I have come to only purchase four types of stabilizers which are constantly in my stash: Medium weight tear away washaway, water soluble vilene, Sulky totally stable and fusible polymesh. I do  have a large bolt of cut away which is hardly ever used…except for me to trace patterns now and then.

The tearaway wash away is not a water soluble stabilizer, rather it is a medium weight tearaway which will wash away from the non-embroidered areas but stay underneath the embroidery areas therefore reinforcing them throughout their life span. The brand that I have come to love is the Hollingsworth & Vose tearaway washaway 2020. One can purchase these at several places, I purchase mine from http://www.sewingmachine.com  as it comes in a large bolt and I prefer bulk. The stabilizer’s fibers are soft and the stabilizer itself is not stiff rather soft there fore making it easy to tear away from the edges of the embroidrey. However, I hardly if ever tear it away, simply wash the item and let the stabilizer wash away from the un-embroidered areas.

The water soluble vilene is another that is constantly in my stash…in bulk again. Its main usage is for freestanding laces and cutwork type designs where it is necessary to not have fabric rather stitches. It is a fabric type stabilizer, not clear at all. Again, it has a body and not stiff rather drapable. I purchase mine from http://www.pointetopointe.com as the prices are pretty great there.

Another stabilizer which I often use is the Sulky Totally stable. As I stitch and embroider on a lot of silks/satins, I find that this stabilizer is excellent for prep work for the fabrics. It is an iron on tearaway which is used to stabilize the fabric before using a stabilizer in the hoop. In other words, it is adhered to the fabric and then I use the tearaway washaway or vilene depending upon the fabric that it is being used with. It is not to be confused as an iron on and the iron should only be simply placed down upon its back side and lifted without the ironing motion.

The fusible poly mesh is in a large roll which I purchased quite some years ago and I use it simply for the knits. As I do not work much with knits, it is used quite sparingly. Again, this is a prep stabilizer and not to be used simply by itself. What it does is adhere to the back side of the knit via iron (lift and press motion) and keeps the knit from stretching while embroidering. With both the Totally stable and the polymesh, I use only layer of the tearaway washaway stabilizer only hooped in the hoop. Fabric is never hooped, rather the stabilizer.

Usually only one layer of stabilizer is more than plenty for any type of embroidery regardless of stitch count. I have stitched out 50,000 stitches on one layer of tear away wash away with excellent results. The digitizing is what makes the difference in the stitching, the stabilizer simply aids the embroidery. The more layers of stabilizer that are used in the hoop, the harder the machine and needle have to work through all the layers and yes, your embroidery may be good looking due to the layers but your needle and machine have done three times the work that they needed to do.

While I was stitching out the Secret Garden II collection, I did take note of the number of stitches and in some panels, especially where the flowers are…the stitch count was quite high….44000. The only stabilizer that I used in all my stitching was the tear away wash away stabilizer…one layer.

A lot of times, it is also how we hoop that makes the difference. The stabiizer should be taut in the hoop and not sagging, that is why when one picks up the hoop it is best to only pick it up with its sides rather than holding it so the fingers are halfway onto the hooped stabilizers. A tiny little dent in the tautness can make a ton of difference. One should be able to roll up the embroidered item into a ball without feeling any hard spots. If there are hard spots in the embroidery, then chances are your machine will do a noise stitching at that point and also your embroidery will warp due to the pull of the stitches. Looking at the close-up of one of the stitched out panels, you can see there is no warping or the outlines being off line….well, as the design has a specialty method of digitizing, the outlines are not exactly one line rather they are used to enhance and give depth.

My best advice to friends would be to create a list of types of fabric that you mostly embroider. Once you have that set, now you can go about making a list of the types of stabilizers you use. With such a variety in the market, it is a bit difficult but remember…they all come from a handful of companies and should be quite affordable. Oft times I have gone to Wal-mart in the middle of the night as I needed something really fast and picked up their roll of tear aways, cutaways, even water soluble vilene at a fraction of the cost of what I would pay if I went to my dealers.

Another stabilizer which I do not use any more but would recommend is a topper. This is a filmy type plastic, very thin and is used as a topper for knits, towels etc. I usually end  up using tulle as the topper to hold down the threads in really plush towels so whatever works for you.