osewme

I rip out the same way Chasing Hawk explained. I learned that way back in Home Ec class about 500 years ago.

trolleystation

This is exactly what I would suggest. I use a Havel scalpel and my tweezers. Works great. Good luck. I won't be so bad once you get started.

Reba'squilts

I think with serpentine I would have to do as mentioned, clip in the back and pull thread on front. I have a little electric ripper that is really a small hand held dog trimmer that I use for straight lines of stitching. It works pretty quickly. If we can sew...we can un-sew!!

tessagin

I have a 28mm rotary I use. It's great for the teeny tiny stitches. I just tug at the fabric enough to breeze on through. Helped my neighbor undo a King size she was going to repair. We sat and talked and before we knew it we were done. Able to save all but the thread of course and the quilt looks brand new. Went over it with lint rollers to remove the threads.

fivepaws

That is the way I do it. Tedious but it works and no danger of cutting fabric.

ccthomas

I, too, have been ripping out a serpentine stitch. I found this harder than a straight stitch. I used the five stitch and flip to pull out. I finished but I wondered how that mustache trimmer worked. I didn't want to ruin the fabric and quilt.

quilttiger

I found an electric seam ripper (Wahl brand) for $20.00 at a quilt expo. It is about an inch wide. Once I got the hang of using it on a practice piece, it has been a lifesaver.

callen

I also have an electric seam ripper & it works great. Sometimes it seems like you need more then 2 hands but I use a bulldog clip & clip one side of the fabric to a table edge, hold the other side open & away I go. Faster then anything else I have tried. I don't know about serpentine stitches but this is so efficient on straight seams. Well worth the $$. IMHO.

duckydo

I took a class from Jamie Wallen and he showed how to rip out stitches on a quilt that he called skinning. You lift up the top and carefully snip the thread between the top and batting it is pretty slick, but you have to be very careful not to snip the top. Another thing I do is snip the top thread for two or three stitches then grab the top thread and tug on it until the bobbin thread comes to the top and holding the top thread taught snip the bobbin thread and then you can pull out several stitches at a time, I don't use a rotary cutter doing this, I use small snips.

DonnaPBradshaw

http://www.allbrands.com/products/30...UqYaAtCu8P8HAQ

Here is a youtube that shows an amazing tool for cutting machine embroidery!