Removing embroidery stitches
 

I need to remove embroidery stitches and was told to buy a Gingher burling tool that is no longer available. I checked ebay. Does anyone know of something else that I could use?

I just use my seam ripper. You need to be careful, but it works.

i've not done it, but have read that some use an electric hair clippers to shave off the back stitches. then the front stitches just pull off.

Peggy's Stitch Eraser
http://www.peggysstitcheraser.com/index.html
It looks like a trimmer but the blades are different

The stitch eraser works great, if you're in a rush the seam ripper used where you can easily get under the stitches is good too. It's best to cut on the back, but if you are only removing part of an embroidery you may need to do some work on the top as well due to overlap. You wouldn't want to cut the wrong bobbin threads and remove the wrong top color.

There is a thing called "peggy's stitch eraser" which is basically a wahl mustache trimmer. I owned a commercial embroidery business for 15 years and this was the best inventment I ever made. Using a seam ripper you run the risk of cutting the garment, I had a girl that used a razer blade - she knew how to use it but at times she put a hole in things also. You can also go on the back side of the embroidery and clip the bobbin thread and pull it out then pull the front stitches out.

I have used a big type shaver on the back carefully--done in seconds! But be careful not to cut the backing.

I use the Wahl trimmer, the little shaver that removes pills from sweaters, a seam ripper,tweesers and
lots of patience.

nancysnotions.com has things that look like hair clippers that remove embroidery stitches

I use a single edge razor blade and very carefully shave off the backing stitches. The front stitches just lift off with the help of a tweezer to grab the tiny stitches.