Water soluble stabilisers and films

There are films and non wovens. Films usually lie on top and stop stitches sinking into a high pile fabric. Non woven versions serve as backing and also dissolve completely.

For freestanding lace, stitching is done entirely on water soluble material. After rinsing, only the thread remains – the design then supports itself.

Rinse the stabiliser out thoroughly and dry the embroidery flat. Residue makes the fabric stiff; rinsing briefly several times works better than soaking once.

Store the material dry and sealed. Humidity in the air is enough to make the surface tacky, after which it no longer feeds smoothly through the machine.

From Sulky we stock the thin film Solvy as a topping for terry, the heavy film Ultra Solvy for freestanding lace, the fabric-like Fabri Solvy and the printable, self-adhesive Sticky Fabri-Solvy. Paper Solvy is a water soluble paper you can print or draw templates on.