Cutaway Embroidery Backing
Cutaway is a stabiliser that provides the most stable base for embroidering stretchy materials and high density designs.
It remains in place after the embroidery design is finished and helps retain the design shape after washing (see Fig 1). You can reduce excess cutaway by trimming around the embroidered design with sharp scissors on the inside of the garment, hence the name cutaway (see Fig 2)! Try to use scissors with round ends to avoid snagging the cloth, leaving around half a centimetre or more border around the actual design (see Fig 3).
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This is backing used on polo shirts, sweatshirts, t shirts etc that may stretch in the hoop. Cutaway is available in black for dark coloured garments but is more difficult to find than the normal white.
Cutaway comes in different weights depending on the stitch count. We tend to use a medium weight stabiliser but use two layers to increase the thickness. If you use two layers, turn one layer around 90degrees for best effect (See Fig 4).
Lightweight for 6,000 to 10,000 stitches
Midweight for 15,000 to 20,000 stitches
Heavyweight 25,000 plus stitches