« Zoo Babies by Sue Box | Main | Creative Expressions Issue #24 »
Digging out that tear away stabilizer!
By Serena Nabeta | September 3, 2009
Tear away stabilizer is one of my most widely used stabilizers when I’m stitching embroidery designs. As long as the fabric is appropriate for this stabilizer, I love using it! But sometime it can be a challenge to get out all the little pieces of stabilizer on the back on the design after the stitching is complete.
That where one of my favorite tools, the ballpoint awl by Clover, comes in handy. Most awls that you may have in your sewing room have a sharp point that is made to puncture the fabric. This is used for creating eyelets or other decorative uses. But with the ballpoint awl, the end is not so sharp as to puncture to fabric, but will work to help you dig out the stabilizer from the back of the design.
From the back of the fabric, slide the end of the ballpoint awl between the stabilizer and fabric and gently pull the stabilizer away from the stitching. The end still could damage your fabric or stitches if you are pushing too deeply, so be sure just to catch the layer of tear away to pull it away from the design. This helps to dig out the stabilizer from those little areas instead of using your fingers or fingernails.
The next time you are struggling with getting out all those areas with tear away stabilizer, give this ballpoint awl a try! I’m sure you’ll love using it!
Topics: Embroidery, Helpful Lessons, New Items, Product Reviews, Quilting, Sewing, Stabilizers, Tips for Tools, Video Tutorials | Comments Off
Comments are closed.