Question for Embroidery machine people
 

Does all stabilizer wash away? Mine says, tear-away. I am new and I just finished 2 onesies and I'm concerned about the scratchiness of the underside. I tore away most of it. It is for my neice's new baby to be and I will recommend to her that she wash it as I'm sure she has some Dreft, which I don't!

Only a few stabilizers are wash-away. Most are tear-away or meant to stay.

when i was brand new to embroidery, i didn't know anything about the stabilizers... so i just bought 1 of each kind they sold - i still have lots of them left over :) the wash-away is pricier than the others. some of the tear-away are very soft.

There is a cover up for the underside of embroideries. I have some, but can't think of the name, but go to discount embroidery supplies and see what it is called. Several companies make something for just this thing.

Buy some of that sulky product you can iron over the back side of embroidery to not have the scratchiness

I use a product called Cloud Cover. I bought it online from Thread Art. I'm sure there are other brands that do the same. Cut it to cover back of design and iron it over. Nice and soft for baby (and grownups too).

In answer to your question, only wash away stabilizer dissolves, usually used for free standing lace. Other stabilizers stay behind to support stitches. When I began I learned so much from the Embroidery Library site.

Thanks ladies, you have helped me a lot!

I have some from OESD called "Gentle Touch" to iron on after embroidery so it is not scratchy. Onsies are probably a knit fabric and I would use a cutaway stablilzer that would stay in and support the stitches over the life of the garment, but cut it close after stitching, then apply a piece of the iron-on soft backing.

I agree with Skyangel if you don't have anything supporting the stitching on knits they usually droop over time and pucker/twist when washed.