wash away your sins (or at least your toppings)

wash away toppings—quick tips on when to use thick and when to use thin:

 use thin wash-away topping every time that your fabric is not suitable for use with heat-away topping and wetting your project is not an issue.

use thick wash-away topping with really high-pile fabrics, when you would normally use two layers of thin water-soluble topping.  if your fabric can support either water soluble of heat away topping, use the type you like more…all about personal preference if both things work!

a few more tips on stabilizing:

heavy vs. light fabric: the heavier your fabric is, the heavier the weight of embroidery stabilizer that should be used; the lighter the fabric, the lighter machine embroidery stabilizer is recommended.

dense vs. more transparent designs: the denser your embroidery design, the heavier the weight of stabilizer you should use; the less dense the design, the lighter backing is more recommended.

metallic thread: if you’re using metallic thread, avoid 100% polyester embroidery stabilizer. try to use embroidery stabilizers with some natural component (cotton or poly-viscose). natural machine embroidery stabilizers are usually softer, create less friction with embroidery needle and thread, and therefore you embroider with less thread breaks. this is correct for any thread, but is especially noticeable with metallics.

gouge away, you can gouge away…play all day

on cutaway stabilizers - stretchy and unstable fabrics work best with cut-away stabilizers, because this type of backing can be removed by cutting it away without stretching the embroidered fabric in process. if you embroider on some kind of light cloth (like a t-shirt), be sure to use thin, translucent no-show mesh cutaway embroidery stabilizer. 

on tear-away stabilizers – stable woven fabrics usually work well with tear-away embroidery stabilizer because, when you tear away the excess stabilizer, the fabric that is stable won’t stretch or become deformed. and it is a pleasure to use tear-away embroidery stabilizer when possible, because when it is removed, the back side of the embroidery looks better than after using cutaway (less backing edges can be seen).

100% cotton tear-away embroidery stabilizer can be ironed on to fabric and is great for quilting.  becomes very soft and pleasant after laundry.  a universal poly-viscose tear-away embroider stabilizer is a little more stable than the above cotton embroidery stabilizer.  either works great, so again, personal preference is the rule here.

spinnin’ some heavy metal

working with metallic thread can be a bit more challenging to handle than regular machine embroidery thread.  if you get into trouble using metallic thread, try these steps, in this order:

1. make sure you’re using a quality, new, SHARP “metallic needle.” (metallic needles have a larger eye, which allows the thread to run more smoothly, and this eye is often coated with teflon for an even better effect.)

2. if you see that the thread is coming off of a spool too easily and is causing loops and knots at the very beginning, try using a thread net (spool net). these are very helpful with frustrating looping issues, and are very inexpensive.  most metallic thread—particularly the extremely high sheen brands—have this looping problem, but it’s an issue that is easy to solve because the benefits of using shiny metallic thread are huge.

another possible solution to “early looping” problems is to use a QUALITY vertical thread stand (thread feeder), as this issue is especially noticeable on machines that have horizontally positioned spool. if you have a good thread stand, it’s worthwhile to try it. i got mine for $25 bucks at a craft show.

3. reduce your machine speed!  try the lowest speed you can set on your machine, and observe the results. move the speed up, little by little, until the point where it begins to cause thread breakage. turn the speed down a bit down from there, to the best point of good performance. 

4. make sure the top thread tension is not too high for a metallic thread. usually metallic thread requires a LOWER thread tension than regular embroidery thread, and lowering the tension can also help prevent shredding.  nothing ticks me off quite lite shredding.

5. make sure your design is suitable for metallic thread.  many designs are digitized in such a way that they don’t work well with any metallic thread, but if you’re hellbent on using metallic thread, avoid these types of designs for better luck:

* many overlapping objects that create 3 or more stitch layers
* designs with many small stitches
* designs with very dense areas

6. make sure you’re using a decent backing. metallic thread usually works much better soft, cutaway backings or with backings that have a viscose or cotton component to them. 100% polyester backings are usually too sturdy and create too much friction with needle and thread, which causes unwanted thread breaks.  rule of thumb:  if the backing feels good on your face, it’s suitable for working with metallic thread…too itchy or scratchy, save it for something else.

7. make sure you’re using decent fabric.  fabric that is too thick or dense can cause unwanted friction, therefore causing metallic thread breakage.  when working with metallic thread, always try to use soft materials and natural fibers.

8. try cooling your metallic threads in the freezer for about 5-7 minutes before embroidering.  can’t explain the physics behind this and am too lazy to look it up…but it works!  probably has something to do with expansion and contraction of fibers.

heat-away backing

caution: never, never, never use a steam iron with fusible stabilizer. the stabilizer will melt and ruin your fabric. 

i tried steam ironing some fusible stabilizer once to a piece of felt… just to see what would happen… and was left looking like this, while my felt was left looking like a little piece of dried up chewing gum. 

so here’s some straight talk on when to use an iron on some fusbile (heat-away) backing to remove it from the back of an embroidered item:

your fabric and design need embroidery stabilizer to remain under the stitches, but you can’t use tear-away or cut-away (the design and/or fabric may be too delicate for tear-away and/or too sheer for cut-away).

your project is not washable, too delicate for tear-away and/or too sheer for cutaway.

you’re working with some special technique, like making lace at an edge, and water soluble stabilizer isn’t enough.

you want to create stand-alone embroidery from a design that isn’t digitized as stand-alone (you can just embroider on fusible embroidery stabilizer, cut the excess, then heat away the edges).

pump up the volume

to avoid the flat look of finished embroidery and to have the three dimensional aspect (without puckering and damage to the threads), iron embroidered garments like so:

1. place a fluffy terry cloth dowel on an ironing board;

2. place the embroidery up-side down on the towel.

press the iron on to the garment from the opposite side of the embroidery.

pokey says so.

what’s your fiber?

 find out what your fiber is:

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/pottercraftnews/fiberquiz/