Cut away stabilisers

Stretchy fabrics give way with every wearing. A design stabilised only during stitching will distort over time. Cut away stabiliser keeps the area in shape permanently, because it remains in the garment.

Since it stays in the fabric, handle matters. Soft qualities add less bulk on children's clothes and shirts; for bags and firm fabrics the stabiliser may be heavier.

After stitching, trim the excess back to a few millimetres with small, sharp scissors. Take care not to cut through the fabric behind it.

Sulky cut away stabilisers range from the soft Soft´n Sheer Plus for clothing worn next to the skin, through the strong Super Strong, to the iron-on Ultra Stable, the heaviest in the range for bags and designs with a high stitch count. They are joined by Tender Touch, which covers the scratchy back of the design after stitching, the bonding web Thermofix for appliqué and the iron-on film BSN for attaching finished patches.