Back It Up Embroidery Project
Backing and stabilizer basics
Materials
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Cut Away Stabilizer - 2.5 Oz wt.
Cut Away Stabilizer - 2 oz wt.
Backing and stabilizer basics
Backing or stabilizer is a fabric material which is placed behind the garment being sewn, and sandwiched together with the garment during the hooping process. Backing material is very stable and does not shift or stretch during the hooping or sewing process. Once the sewing process begins, the backing becomes attached to the garment by virtue of the embroidery process – they are sewn together. As a result, the stable characteristics of the backing are transferred to the garment, causing the fabric to be anchored in place. |
Backings are also used to improve detail stitching on some items. Fabrics with coarse weaves, and knits, do not offer enough material to hold the stitching in place, especially when the embroiderer tries to produce high quality detail work. Backings come in two basic styles: cut-away and tear-away. Cut-away Backing This type of backing material tends to be quite stable and is the most common choice by most Embroiderer’s. When hooping a garment, the backing material must always be larger in area than the hoop. As a result, when the sewing is completed, the excess backing must be trimmed away from the edges of the design. Fabric applications for cutaway include:
Tear-away Backing This type of backing is not as stable as the cut-away. However, the simplicity of being able to tear off rather than cut off the excess backing material makes this the choice of many embroiderers. Unfortunately, the very nature of the material reduces its stabilizing characteristics. Tear-away backings can be used on a wide variety of garments, but are perhaps best relegated to situations, where the “back” of the embroidery can be seen, such as on towels, since it leaves a sharp clean edge to the embroidery, whereas, the cut-away leaves a certain amount of exposed backing in place. Fabric applications for tear-away include:
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