I am always looking for ways to make things easier and less expensive. With embroidery, especially with the new machines having enormous embroidery frames, the amount of waste in stabilizers is huge. I recently told a friend about this tip, and did some photos of my latest project to share it with you. The tip involves using a sticky stabilizer, not a fusible. You can use either a plain sticky tear away, or use the one I like best, which is Sulky’s Sticky Fabri-Solvy, a sticky water-soluble stabilizer. Just press it onto your fabric on the wrong side.

Hoop and stitch out your design as usual.

Remove from the hoop, and cut away the stabilizer around the design.

Save the trimmings.

For your next embroidery, this time only hoop the Sticky Fabri-Solvy, paper side up.

Score the paper with a sharp point, being careful not to cut the stabilizer itself.

Remove the top paper inside the hoop.

Now, press your next fabric base onto the sticky stabilizer. Note that the fabric is not hooped. It doesn’t need to be, the sticky stabilizer will hold it in place.

Embroider your next design. I clean my needle after every thread color change as the glue can build up on the needle causing thread breaks. But frequent cleaning avoids this. I use a q-tip with just a bit of goo-gone or clear alcohol to remove any residue. Both dry very fast, and are usually gone by the time I get the next color threaded. I use a dry q-tip to make sure the needle is clean before beginning the next stitching segment.

When your embroidery design is finished stitching, do NOT remove the stabilizer from the hoop. Pull back the fabric and carefully cut around the stitching.

The stabilizer is still hooped, and you’ll have a hole in the middle.

Take your scraps from the first embroidery, and place them over the hole, sticky side up, using the sticky side of the hooped stabilizer to keep them in place. Cover the entire open area.

Press your next fabric base over the hoop, and you are ready to do the next embroidery, saving a lot of stabilizer. Each time, only cut away the part that was used, and use the trimmings from a previous embroidery to fill the hole. When you run out of trimmings, take the stabilizer out and use it for trimmings, hooping a new whole piece of stabilizer.

Each embroidery has only the embroidered area of water soluble stabilizer left. This can now be rinsed in water to remove.

Once it is thoroughly rinsed and all the stabilizer is gone, allow to dry, then press. I’ve added honeycomb borders for these which will become hot pads. This hooping technique works with any sticky stabilizer, such as Sulky’s sticky cut-away or tear-away.

Love the fabric I used? I have a few one-yard lengths I can sell, $10 per yard includes shipping. Just send me an email at frommycarolinahome at gmail dot com. Payment via paypal. The embroidery designs came from Designs by Juju in the sets called Farm Fresh 7 and Busy Bees Word Art 2 (no affiliation).

I’ll be making more of these for our show shop next year. I just hope bees and honey are still a hot item then!

************

Find adorable Bee Theme Fabrics to make your own potholders at Fat Quarter Shop. Last day for February deals at Fat Quarter Shop – 20% off the Basic of the Month Thatched by Robin Pickens for Moda Fabrics, 30% Off the Notions of the Month from Dritz, 30% off Patterns of the Month from Camille Roskelley, and see the Book of the Month also by Camille Roskelley. Check out Today’s Flash Sale and see the Precuts of the Week, plus The Cross Stitch Sale of the Month will be on Fabric Flair.