Mastering Sulky Heat-Away Clear Film Stabilizer for embroidery projects

Before we discuss the fourth category (heat-removable) of stabilizers, I want to share the results from the Sulky and UNIQUE water-soluble stabilizers I played with yesterday and explore two more water-soluble products.

I threw the items I created yesterday into the washing machine to see how they would look after washing. It’s a good test as the item needs to look as good after washing as before. Remember, with water-soluble stabilizers, none of the stabilizer remains in the item if it’s washed. Wait – I rinsed the free-standing lace ornament in the sink to allow some of the stabilizer to stay, giving it body.

The free-standing lace ornament (red heart) (Sulky Fabri-Solvy) and the white napkin (Sulky Super Solvy) came out beautifully. The fleece sample on the left (Sulky Super Solvy in the metal hoop and Sulky Solvy as a topper) looks fantastic; however, the one on the right (UNIQUE Trace-Away on the bottom, and the Super Solvy on the top) puckered. We’ll come back to that one in a second.

Here’s the denim shirt (Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy), which I did not press after removing it from the dryer, so you could see what it looks like without pressing. It turned out amazing!

Here’s the part I love about the water-soluble stabilizers. Look at the inside of that shirt. Impeccable!! I haven’t worn it yet, but should I find it scratchy directly next to my skin, I’ll wear a light T-shirt underneath or fuse a piece of Sulky Tender Touch over the design, and it’ll be amazing! I’d prefer not to see the cutaway stabilizer on the inside as I like the clean look of the stitches, but if I need to, the Tender Touch is the way to go. The choice of the design and stabilizer makes for a beautiful garment.

The last item I created yesterday was the yarn scarf sandwiched between two layers of water-soluble stabilizer (Sulky Ultra Solvy in the hoop and Sulky Solvy) for the top. It’s stunning! You don’t see the stitches when using a matching thread for the machine embroidery. You could make the scarf thicker by adding more strands of yarn, but this density works for me. I love it! It was super easy to make and much faster than knitting a scarf! It makes me look at my yarns in a whole different way!

Now, let’s go back to that sample that puckered. I only used a water-soluble stabilizer on this stretchy fleece. The satin stitch on both letters is quite wide – probably too wide, as it might get snagged on something. A wide satin stitch, especially on a knit, requires something to support the stitches.

I could reduce the width of the satin stitch, thereby making smaller letters, or I could change the satin stitch to a fill pattern. The best solution is to use a cutaway stabilizer that will remain in the project to provide support.

I love that regardless of what happens to the samples, there’s a way to fix it! This problem-solving is why I make samples – to learn, test, and figure out what works for each type of fabric and design.

Let’s move on to two other types of water-soluble products. The first one is called Sulky Paper  Solvy. This product is perfect for creating templates for machine quilting, punchneedle, hand embroidery, or even paper piecing. Trace or photocopy the design onto the 8½” by 11″ sheets of paper and stitch on the lines. When finished, remove the excess paper and rinse the bits away. I love that it works well in the printer, which saves a lot of time. You could also use it as a stabilizer.

I’ve used it to make a paper pieced block. It was easy to remove the stabilizer by giving it a quick rinse under the tap. I also tried spritzing it with water, but it did need a rinse to remove all traces of the dissolved stabilizer.

Paper Solvy only comes in 8½” x 11″ sheets.

While this product may resemble the Paper Solvy in that it only comes in 8½” by 11″ sheets, is water soluble and is used to transfer patterns, it’s the same product as one we saw yesterday – Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy. This size format is called Sulky Stick’n Stitch. Use it to transfer designs for hand embroidery, thread painting using a sketch, punch needle, cross stitch, and quilting. I LOVE that this product works with the printer – super handy!

There’s a protective layer of paper on the sticky side of the stabilizer. Print on the fabric-like side, remove the protective paper layer, and adhere the design to the back or front of your fabric, depending on the technique. Punchneedle would be on the back side, while most other methods would be on the front. Watch for reverse images if that’s important to the design.

Rinse the excess away when the stitching is complete. I didn’t have a chance to try this product, but I’ve used something similar in the past, and I LOVE it because it saves a lot of time to get a design onto the fabric.

Finally, let’s move on to the fourth category of the Sulky stabilizers. I don’t have much experience with this type, so I’m interested in trying it out. There’s only one product, and it’s called Sulky Heat-Away Clear Film.

Where would you use this? It provides stability like the previous stabilizers, but the heat-away product might be the solution if you can’t wash the item and wish all the stabilizers to vanish. Perhaps the thread or fabric is not colorfast, or the fabric itself doesn’t like water. It sounds like fun, so let’s give it a try.

Having read the packaging, I noticed it says NOT to use this product on a piece of fabric with a nap, like terry cloth or fleece. So what did I choose to experiment with? Fleece! Just because I wanted to see the reaction.

I took the same initials as we saw earlier, but made them smaller. I put a layer of the Heat-Away on the top and the bottom. Then, I basted around the design to hold the top stabilizer in place and stitched the design.

When I finished, I ripped some, but not all, of the excess stabilizer away. I could have removed more, but I intentionally left some excess to see what happened with the nap.

I didn’t realize how much ironing I had to do to remove the stabilizer. I did not use steam as was indicated in the directions, but the heat and duration of the pressing did flatten the fleece more than I would have liked. But this is what happened on the front, where I also left more than necessary stabilizer. You can see how some of the stabilizer got caught in the nap, precisely as the packaging said it would!

So, where would you use this? Think back to Day Two when I discussed Tear-Away stabilizers. Remember this sample? These are red decorative stitches on white fabric, which I had no intention of washing, so water-soluble stabilizers were out of the question. The tear-away stabilizer I used will remain in the project. Had I used Heat-Away, removing the excess from the back would have been simple! But I didn’t know about Heat-Away when I did this.

Wow – that’s so many types of stabilizers and so much information! As you’ve seen from some of my samples, knowing what’s available and how it can make or break your project is important. It’s essential to know the difference between the four categories (tear-away, cutaway, water-soluble, and heat-away) and to understand the properties of the various types within each category.

Of course, you’ll want to get your hands on some of each stabilizer I mentioned this week, but to help you decide which format of each to buy, here’s something you may want to start with. A Sulky Stabilizer Sampler pack has one piece (8″ by 10″) of all 19 types of stabilizers.

What I love about it is that the packaging has excellent information on all the different stabilizers broken down by category.

Each stabilizer sheet is labeled to help you learn what each looks and feels like.

You’ll also find a chart showing you which size format each type is available in. You may not want a bolt of each type, but for those you use frequently, a bolt may be what you need. You also want to consider the size of machine embroidery hoops you most frequently use and ensure the size format you purchase will accommodate those hoops.

The Sulky Stabilizer Sampler pack is an excellent reference. And like everything else in your reference library, you need to make sure that you read this information and then experiment with the various types. Your projects will be amazing!

Seeing the not-so-perfect examples also helps to realize that even experienced sewists don’t always get it right. But more importantly, I hope that you realize there’s no one recipe for any project. Consider the type and weight of fabric, the embroidery design, the decorative stitches, and any other factors when choosing a stabilizer.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, but on a sample! You can confidently tackle anything when you understand the properties and what will happen!

Be sure to check out the amazing Sulky and UNIQUE brand stabilizers. There’s sure to be one that will suit the type of fabric, your embroidery design, or your handwork creations that will make your project a breeze to stitch, and the result will fill the air with oohs and ahhs from your friends.

I hope this week has been informative for you. I had loads of fun and learned a lot!

Have a great day!

Ciao!

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: Your guide to using Sulky Water-Soluble Stabilizers for stunning embroidery