Choosing the correct backing is a vital part of the embroidery process. Unfortunately, it can also create a fair amount of anxiety and confusion for embroiderers.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Manywell.
Even a casual glance at the wide range of backing selections in any embroidery supply catalog with the sheer number of thicknesses, sizes and categories available can send beginners into full-on analysis paralysis. However, it doesn&#;t have to be this way.
In this article, I&#;ll guide you through two key elements that will help you determine exactly what you need to look for to match the right backing with every project. I&#;ll also break down the wide landscape of stabilizers into a few easy-to-understand categories to sharpen your backing knowledge.
The first thing you need to know is that backings should always be used with machine embroidery. Embroidery backings, also called stabilizers, perform two essential functions that can mean the difference between beautiful, professionally finished embroidery and a ruined design on an unsavable garment.
First, the right embroidery backing serves as the stabilizing substrate behind the embroidered design. When you strike the correct combination of backing and material, you&#;ll prevent the design from warping, rolling and puckering. You&#;ll also ensure the embroidered design keeps its shape through innumerable wash-and-wear cycles over the life of the garment.
Second, the stabilizer creates a smooth and level barrier between the machine and any seams, textured fabric or other parts of the item being stitched, preventing needle deflection or design registration problems.
Again, there are two key elements for pairing your material with the correct stabilizer. These include fabric construction and design type.
What do I mean by fabric construction? Hint: it&#;s not the fiber content the fabric is made from. The fact that your material includes cotton, polyester, rayon, wool, or any blend of two or more fibers, doesn&#;t matter when it comes to choosing backing. Instead, fabric construction refers to the manner in which the material is made. Most fabrics fall into one of two types: Knits and Wovens.
Knit fabrics are made from a continuous thread, or sets of threads, and are identified by the knit-and-purl, or looped, construction pattern of the material, similar to how a knitted or crocheted Afghan is made, but much smaller. The chain-link construction of knits is what makes them stretch in every direction. But while this makes them comfortable to wear, it also means they are very unstable fabrics. T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts and performance wear are all examples of common knits.
By contrast, woven fabrics are constructed by the crisscrossing of horizontal and vertical threads in an over-and-under basket weave pattern. Generally, this makes for a more stable fabric. However, because lightweight wovens are thinner and less dense, they are still considered unstable fabrics. Sometimes a blend of fibers, including elastic fibers, will be employed as part of the weave, allowing a light woven material to flex even more. Dress shirts, chiffon, percale, silk, rayon and some linens are all examples of common lightweight wovens.
As for heavyweight wovens, they are exactly what they sound like: dense, tightly woven cloth made for thickness, warmth and durability. Although they may sometimes be woven with a small percentage of elastic in them (think stretch denim) they generally have little flexibility and are very stable. Broadcloth, wool tweed, denim, twill, duck cloth, and canvas duffle bags are all examples of heavyweight wovens.
As you might expect, because knits are very stretchy and lightweight wovens are flexible, they require a stabilizing foundational layer that will support the design throughout the life of the garment. Therefore, when embroidering on knits and light wovens, you must use a sturdier cut-away backing to keep the design flat and well-supported as the material stretches and flexes around the stitches over the course of repeated wearings.
Stable heavyweight woven fabrics, on the other hand, have enough integrity to support the design after it has been stitched without requiring the additional stabilization of a cut-away backing. Therefore, when embroidering on heavyweight wovens, a tear-away backing is all you need to provide the temporary stability necessary during the actual embroidering process.
What do I mean by design type? As you probably know, embroidery designs come in all manner of sizes, densities, stitch types and total stitch counts. With this in mind, design type refers to not just one of those factors, but all those factors put together. Don&#;t just think in terms of high or low total stitch counts. The overall size of the design in light of the total number of stitches matters, too. Is the design tightly packed in one area? Or is it a large, airy design without a lot of fill stitches? Consider the design elements, stitch type and the amount of fabric &#;real estate&#; it&#;s going to take up.
In the lion design shown here, for example, we have a 6-inch-by-7-inch design with over 42,000 stitches, including a large number of fill stitches. We would call a design like that very &#;dense.&#; All those stitches layered on top of each other in one central area will require a heavier weight backing, i.e., one that is thicker and is itself denser with higher stabilization power.
At the other end of the density spectrum, we have the owl design, also shown here, with a medium to lower stitch count&#;a 6-inch-by-12-inch design that includes a lot of unstitched areas and decorative running stitches with around 22,000 stitches across a full jacket back. We would call a design like this very &#;open.&#; While 22,000 stitches is not a small design, it is spread out across a wide area.
Once you learn how to approach your backing decisions by thinking in terms of fabric construction and design type, you will be better able to analyze which backing you&#;ll need for every project you want to embroider. Will you need a cut-away? A tear-away? Something more specialized? What follows is a quick and simple guide grouping backings by type.
Despite the dozens of different backing types available, at the end of the day the wide variety of embroidery backings can be broadly divided into four basic types. These four types, in turn, are categorized according to how they are removed. Let&#;s have a look.
Cut-away backings are specially manufactured to provide a permanent foundation for the embroidery, not only during the stitching process but throughout the life of the garment. A portion of the backing is meant to remain embedded in the embroidery on the back side of the stitching to provide long-lasting stability on fabrics that require it.
After embroidering, the excess backing is cut away from around the design with scissors or shears, leaving a modest margin around the stitched area. These backings are soft to the touch and feel smooth when worn next to the skin. Different weights, or densities, of cut-away are available to match each of your project needs. Cut-away backings are used with non-stable and stretchy fabrics, such as knits and light wovens.
Tear-away backings are just what they sound like&#;they&#;re torn away from the back of the embroidered design once the garment is removed from the hoop. Tear-away backings provide temporary stability during the hooping and stitching process. In most cases the remaining areas of tear-away backing left behind are made to soften over time and eventually degrade and wash away. It is therefore important that the kind of material you&#;re stitching on be able to support the embroidered design on its own during normal wear and tear and through multiple laundry cycles. Tear-away backing is used with tightly woven materials, like heavy twill, denim, home decor, canvas and duck cloth.
Wash-away backings, like tear-away backings, provide temporary stability during the hooping and embroidery process. They are the backing you&#;ll want to use for material where you need to avoid leaving residual stabilizer on the back side of the embroidered item. After embroidering, the excess is removed by rinsing with warm water or laundering. The most common applications employing wash-away backing are in the creation of stand-alone lace, heirloom and cutwork embroidery. Other uses include super-stretchy and slippery fabrics, such as Lycra and Spandex, or items like nylon flags, sashes and stoles, where the back of the item can be seen.
Heat-away backings are a little different from the other three in that they are first hooped all on their own, after which the design is embroidered directly onto the film to create a stand-alone patch, badge or emblem. After being perforated during the stitching process most of the film can be removed by hand, after which any excess residual material you might still have can be removed with a heat gun or heat press. Heat-away backings are typically used for stand-alone applications. Lighter-weight films can also be used as a backing or topping with delicate specialty fabrics, like satin or velvet, when using a water-soluble backing or topping is not an option.
To help better understand the factors at play when selecting a backing, what follows are a few common, everyday questions where we apply the two key elements to practical embroidery situations:
Q: I recently embroidered a somewhat low-stitch-count design on a lightweight T-shirt with a tear-away stabilizer. During stitching, the material started puckering so badly I had to stop running the machine. The fabric was lightweight, and I wanted to avoid any bulk showing behind the design, so I didn&#;t want a cut-away stabilizer. What did I do wrong?
A: Based on the elements discussed above, because the T-shirt is a knit fabric, a cut-away backing should be used to provide the necessary stabilizing. Fortunately, there are a number of specialty cut-away stabilizers on the market that are sheer/low-profile, but also strong. A thin, embossed nylon &#;no-show&#; backing, for example, works great with T-shirts, performancewear polo shirts, dress shirts and other unstable, lightweight and stretchy material.
Note that adding a medium-weight tear-away along with a no-show cut-away backing when you hoop a garment provides an even stronger, more stable foundation for embroidering. Be sure to hoop with the cut-away closest to the garment and place the tear away on the very bottom. That way you can tear it away first after removing your project from the machine. You can then trim the no-show backing to finish.
Q: I used a cut- away stabilizer on my lightly woven napkins. The embroidery stitch out looks great, but now I have a hunk of backing behind the embroidery that is very noticeable. Are there any other options?
A: The &#;rule&#; says to use cut-away on lightly woven fabrics, but&#;you&#;re embroidering on high-end napkins and don&#;t want any backing showing on the back side of the end result.
There are some situations where you will need to modify the rules, and this is one of them. Keep in mind, though, that this does not mean you can simply swap out a cut-away for a tear-away and expect the end result to be great. You&#;ll need to take a few things into consideration.
First, take a close look at the design. It may need to be digitized in a way that makes up for the lack of a nice stable cut-away backing. For instance, reducing the stitch count may be necessary. The mark of a great digitizer is the ability to rework a design to accommodate different fabrics. For example, simply adding certain stitched underlay elements can allow you to reduce the number of top stitches. Similarly, if the color of the top thread is similar to that of the fabric, lightening the density of the satin stitches can also help reduce total stitch count. This not only reduces the overall density of the design that is going on a lightweight woven fabric, but will also produce a design that is more stable on its own. This in turn can allow you to use a stabilizer that is meant to be removed completely.
Second, consider your options in terms of a backing that can be completely removed. These include:
Q: I have been told that you do not need to use a stabilizer when embroidering on baseball caps. Is this true?
A: It&#;s true that the lining and buckram embedded in the front of a structured baseball cap can easily support an embroidered design all on its own. However, the need for a stabilizer when embroidering on structured caps isn&#;t primarily about supporting the design itself. Because embroidering on caps is a bit more complex than hooping a flat garment, the need for a stabilizer comes into play in a number of vital areas:
With this in mind, cap backing is available in the form of a heavy-duty tear-away stabilizer made specifically for embroidering on caps and cut in a narrow width to fit cap frames. The weight for cap backing is usually in the 2.5- to 3.0-ounce range.
Finally, topping consists of a water-soluble film laid on top of the fabric being embroidered in order to prevent delicate or intricate parts of a design from sinking into the nap or pile of high-profile fabrics. A layer of topping can also enhance the crispness of a design, especially when using thinner 60- or 70-weight thread.
Topping will dissolve when water or steam is applied. Smaller residual areas of topping embedded in stitched areas can also be removed by dabbing them with some excess dampened topping pieces (the bubble gum technique) in which case the topping will stick to itself, pull away and/or dissolve. Topping is especially useful on fleece, sweaters, corduroy, terry or other soft, fuzzy or looped fabric.
Again, navigating your embroidery backing options becomes a much simpler affair if you focus on these two key elements for each project. Once you determine the fabric construction and the type of design you&#;re using, you will be well on your way to hooping and stitching a professional-looking, well-stabilized design that will meet your customers&#; demands for beautiful and long-lasting embroidery. &#;
Nancy Mini is the product marketing manager for Madeira USA. With 23 years of expertise in product research and testing, and more than 10 years&#; experience as the company&#;s in-house embroiderer, Nancy brings a wealth of solution-driven knowledge to both internal staff and Madeira customers across the country. Her well-known videos have helped embroiderers of all skill levels excel in machine embroidery and compete in the decorated apparel market. For comments and questions, go to .
If you know anything about machine embroidery, you&#;ve probably heard the term &#;backing&#; or stabilizer. Selecting the proper backing can be tricky, so we took it upon ourselves to answer all the common questions we get on this topic. Whether you need a quick refresher on which type of backing to use for your current embroidery project (or it&#;s your first time running across the subject), this guide will answer all your questions about backing.
What is backing anyway?
We&#;ll answer this question with a question. Do you own an embroidered polo? Take a look at the inside of the shirt. Under the embroidery, you&#;ll find a piece of white material (or black). That&#;s backing. Backing is a sheet of material that is hooped and embroidered along with the fabric you&#;re embroidering. This material acts as a stabilizer, supporting the fabric and stitches during the embroidery process. When hooping, a sheet of stabilizer is placed behind the garment to keep the fabric from puckering or moving while it&#;s being embroidered.
When should I use backing?
If you want to learn more, please visit our website tear away cloth.
Because it acts as the foundation for your embroidery, backing is an essential piece needed for most machine embroidery projects. However, you can&#;t just use any backing. The appropriate backing to use depends on what item you will be embroidering.
What type of backing should I use?
Here&#;s the general rule of thumb embroiderers follow when selecting backing: The heavier or thicker the fabric you&#;re embroidering, the lighter the backing should be. The lighter or thinner the fabric you&#;re embroidering, the heavier the backing should be.
However, you should keep in mind the following important factors as well:
What size backing is considered light and/or heavy?
Typically, backing is available in different sizes, ranging from 1 ounce to 3.5 ounces. These are the three categories each size falls under:
Are there any projects that don&#;t require backing?
Every embroidery project requires some sort of stabilizer. There are very few instances where you won&#;t need backing, like when embroidering stuffed animals. Some stuffed animals can be bought pre-made for machine embroidery, and will not require backing.
What colors are available?
Backing is available in black and white. Of the two, white is the most common because it works well with various colors and will not be seen through the fabric. However, some embroiderers use black backing on darker garments, especially if there is any chance the backing might be seen or bleed through, such as on pique knit shirts. No-show backing is also an option. As its name suggests, this sheer backing will not show through fabric.
How much can I expect to spend on backing?
Backing is available in pre-cut sheets or in large reels. Pre-cut sheets of backing are available in different dimensions, but are most convenient for smaller designs such as the typical left-chest logo. Large reels are used for sewing large designs.
Pre-cut sheets usually come in packs of 100 to 200 and will cost anywhere from $5 to $20 depending on the type of backing it is and how many sheets it brings. Keep in mind: Buying in bulk can reduce this price. Most suppliers will provide sample packs of each type of backing, so be sure to ask for samples to see how each type of backing works on your projects.
The four main types of backing and what they&#;re used for
Cut-away backing is used for permanent support, as it provides the most stability. It comes in light to heavy weights and is heat set fusible. It offers the sharpest embroidery on highly detailed designs, including small lettering. Cut-away backing remains permanently affixed to the fabric, and the excess is cut away with scissors, which is how cut-away backing has earned its name. It is available in 1 oz. (light) to 3.75 oz. (heavy). Cut-away is best used on materials that stretch (such as knits) and fabrics that will be worn and washed frequently, as it prevents the design from stretching. It is also used on loosely woven and unstructured caps. Select a lightweight cut-away for light-stitch-density designs and a heavyweight cut-away for dense designs. If you&#;re not sure if your fabric falls under the &#;stretchy&#; category, you can actually feel the fabric to verify. To do so, grab the material with both hands approximately 8 inches apart, and pull on the fabric. Make sure you are in the middle of the fabric, not near an elastic waistband or a zipper. If there is substantial stretching, you should use cut-away backing.
Less stable than cut-away backing, tear-away backing is used for light support. It&#;s available in light to heavy weight and also carries an adhesive version. Like cut-away, tear-away backing is true to its name. As its name hints, it is removed by tearing it off from the garment. Tear-away backing is typically used on firmly woven, natural-fiber fabrics that don&#;t stretch, such as terry cloth, robes, blankets, leather and more. In addition to being suitable for very strong and stable fabrics, tear-away is also used when you don&#;t want the backing to show on the other side of the design, such as back of towels, caps and bags. When your fabric requires strong support, you may use several layers of lightweight to medium-weight tear-away. This method is easier because you&#;ll remove one lighter sheet at the time, rather than struggling to remove a heavier tear-away.
Poly mesh or no-show backing is a lightweight woven cut-away that is soft, thin and strong. It is designed to provide additional stability to knit shirts. This type of stabilizer does not show through light-colored garments, hence its name. It is used on polos and T-shirts that will carry designs with a low stitch count. For best results, we recommend combining a no-show backing with a tear-away backing. No-show backing can be removed with water or heat.
Aqua-top topping is a water-soluble plastic film used on the top of an embroidery design to prevent stitches from sinking into textured fabrics. It is used for temporary support on delicate, mesh-like and difficult-to-mark fabrics like pique, fleece, terry cloth or corduroy. Topping is also highly recommended when embroidering towels, as it allows the stitches to stand out as much as possible. When using topping, it is still necessary to apply backing on the back of the fabric to stabilize the garment. Topping may be removed by tearing it away, spraying water on it, or a combination of both methods.
The three most common specialty stabilizers
Foam is used to add dimension to lettering or designs on caps for a 3D effect. It is available in a variety of colors in sheets up to 3 millimeters thick. The foam sheet is laid on top of the desired area and then stitched over with a column fill that uses short stitches to cut the foam. The excess foam will need to be pulled away. Some stray pieces of foam that remain can be removed by applying a hot hair dryer over the area.
Poly mesh backing
While extremely thin, poly mesh backing is exceptionally strong because of the fibers it consists of. This backing is used for adding maximum stability if you don&#;t want to handle the bulkiness of a heavyweight cut-away. Poly mesh is great for the newer tech garments, as they are very thin and have a lot of fluidity to the fabric. Poly mesh will add support without compromising the stability of the garment. An instance where you may use this backing: when embroidering a stretchy tech golf shirt. In this case, you may layer two sheets of poly mesh.
Fusible Backing
Fusible backing is used on very stretchy materials. Once fused to the garment, the fabric and the backing become one stable material. It is also used to cover up a finished piece of embroidery, such as an infant&#;s onesie, where the stitches and the backing would otherwise irritate the baby&#;s skin.
Canvas
Canton fleece
Coated or waterproof fabric
Corduroy
Cotton sheeting
Denim
Dress shirt (woven)
Golf shirt
Headwear
Leather and vinyl
Lingerie or silk
Lycra or spandex
Nylon windbreaker
Satin jacket
Sweater knit
Sweatshirt
T-shirt
Terry cloth
Ultimate Embroidery Cheat Sheet: 50 Popular Fabrics & How-To Embroider Them for Best Quality
Did you know that you can improve the quality of your embroidery no matter which fabric you&#;re embroidering on?
To guarantee your embroidery success, we&#;ve put together a cheat sheet of 50 of the most popular fabrics used for embroidery and the combination of materials that you&#;ll need to give you the best possible results for your projects.
Click here to download our free guide.
For more information, please visit microfibre fabric.