Stitches

What is the purpose of stabilizer for embroidery machines?

I have a home embroidery machine and have used the various types, tear away...water soluble...and cutaway,but it was just because I was told to. I guess I never outgrew asking...WHY? Why? all the time! ;-P Just like to know how things work!

Public Comments

1. Stabilizers are used to place a "stable" fabric on the back (or sometimes front) of the fabric you intend to embroider in order to keep the fabric from shifting. The fabric will shift and distort because of the number of stitches (or threads) the embroidery design adds to the fabric. The more stitches in the design, the more thread is placed within the fabric so the fabric must distort or stretch to accomodate the thread. Imagine placing sticks in a plastic cup. The more sticks you jam into the cup makes the cup warp and stretch to accommodate the sticks. The sticks are the "threads" and the bucket is the fabric. When you add a steel wrap around the plastic cup, the cup becomes more resistant to stretching and will not warp or stretch as easily. The same with stabilizers. The type of stabilizer you need depends on the type of embroidery design and the type of fabric the design goes on. An excellent source for determining the best type of stabilizer to use for different fabrics comes from RNK Distributors: http://www.rnkdistributing.com/solutions.shtml . It is extremely informative and a very useful tool when you are trying to determine the best use of stabilizers.
2. Hi, If you don't use stabilizer the fabric can move too much whilst the machine is embroidering and you will find your work is not very accurate. Each of the different backings are for different things, if you need more info let me know. I have recently discovered this site and would like to answer another question you posted a while ago ref metallic threads. I read what everyone had said and I would like to add a few things. There are a lot of things you can do to help reduce friction when embroidering with metallics, i.e. put the thread in the fridge for a while, turn off the light on your machine, turn the speed right down and use metallic needles (they have a larger eye), but the best trick of all is to buy a can of Silicon spray and put a little spray on the thread cone before you use it and you will be amazed! Hope this helps you, I teach embroidery and PE Design in Perth WA. Happy embroidering..... :)
3. It helps the fabric keep it's shape. The stabilizer makes it easier for your machine and you to make consistent stitches and keeps the thread from getting knotted and tangled.