Embroidery- Soluble Stabilaiser Test

I didn’t think I’d be doing any more embroidery this year, but I clearly underestimated my creative endeavours!

I had been reading about Solvy (brand name) Fabric Soluble Stabiliser of late: a wash off/ water dissolvable stabiliser that you can transfer your design to and put on the front of your fabric whilst you embroider. This to enable you to stitch onto darker or thicker fabric in which the usual means of tracing your design won’t be possible (or a lot harder at least). It’s hard to find an appropriate pen which shows up on dark fabric, or even if you can, it’s difficult to trace your design on, as seeing your design through dark (or opaque) fabric even with a lightbox or up against a window, is not easy!

The stabiliser, hoop and the fabric

The stabiliser above the pattern- you don't even need a lightbox to trace it

Anyway, with this stabiliser, you can trace your design with ease onto it: it is a thin, translucent, white material. You then put the fabric and the stabiliser in the hoop together (stabiliser on top) and stitch your design as normal. When fully stitched, rinse your design in water (I think both warm and cold work- though cold just takes a little longer), leave to dry and then enjoy your embroidery!

The stabiliser (with the traced design) atop the fabric in the hoop

I wanted to test it on a small scrap of fabric, as I didn’t want to go into anything too extravagant or complex without having tested the stabiliser myself first and understand its properties. So I chose a bit of denim I had as an off cut from a previous project (and piece of clothing), and the design I selected was a quite basic star. I wanted something I thought would look nice when embroidered, plus something that wouldn’t take too long to stitch. This definitely satisfied both those requirements! The design was from the DMC website, where they have a load of free downloadable patterns for both cross stitch and embroidery. I should say at this point I purchased the Solvy from a UK based online shop called embroideredjust4u.

The fully stitched design, before washing away the stabiliser

Because denim is a fairly bulky fabric, plus the added thickness of the stabiliser, stitching onto it took some getting used to as I usually sew on cotton, which is much more lightweight. It was also a little harder to hoop and stay taught- again because of the thickness of the material. Though I think this would be the case when using denim regardless of whether I used the stabiliser or not, because on the whole, the stabiliser is extremely thin. These comments aside, it was pretty much just straightforward from there on in.

I was a little apprehensive before rinsing away the stabiliser- I was concerned that it might ruin my design or the stitches would come out bad. But when I washed it away, there were no issues with the stitches- I think they sometimes can turn out a little baggy though- because if they aren’t pulled tightly enough, then once the stabiliser is washed away, then there might be a little spare tension in the thread making up for the extra layer that the stabiliser provides. So just make sure if you’re using something like this, then pull your stitches a little tighter than you would do otherwise.

Cutting away the stabiliser before washing off

I would say though, that after washing the Solvy off, the design feels harder as opposed to the silky feel that embroidery usually does. This might be because I hadn’t washed it thoroughly enough, or maybe that’s how it just turns out- I’m not yet sure as I’m still quite new to the process. It doesn’t affect the look of the design, but it definitely does with the feel of it, so that’s one thing to bear in mind. Though I would say this as an advantage in some circumstances, such as if it’s for a clothing patch, or on a piece of clothing, then you might actually want a tougher feeling design as it might be more durable. Anyway, something to think about…

Overall, I think it is an excellent piece of material to have in my sewing drawer and I will be making a lot of use out of it. It feels like a bit of a game changer for my embroidery and how I don’t need to feel constrained to only a few types or fabrics or colours.

The finished design, after washing