Sewing A Cutwork Design
It is best to select a tightly woven fabric or garment for cutwork. The fabric must be stabilized very well; use good quality spray adhesive as well as quality stabilizers. Adequate stabilization is very important because portions of the fabric will be cut away, affecting the integrity of the fabric and making it less stable.
Practice this method on test fabric before stitching it on an actual garment. It takes a little practice to learn how to align the stitching perfectly.
1. Stabilize the fabric by spraying a piece of water-soluble stabilizer. Hoop the stabilized fabric, then attach the hoop to the embroidery machine.
2. Sew the first stitching line (walk stitch). This is the cutting line. Remove the hoop from the machine and the fabric from the hoop.
3. Use scissors or craft knife to cut the fabric and stabolizer. Avoid stretching the fabric. Cut long or just inside the stitching line. This is the most time consuming portion of the procedure, but careful cutting is a must, reguiring patience and a steady hand.
4. Once the appropriate areas of the fabric are cut away, hoop two layers of Aqua Film Heavy-weight stabilizer. Go back to the begining of the cutwork design by starting over or by backing uo to the begining. Stitch the cutwork stitching line again, this time on the Aqua Film, with no fabric.
5. Spray the back of the stabilized, cut fabric with adhesive. To avoid getting the adhesive on you work surface, put something under the fabric, as it now has holes in it.
Tip: Use another piece of stabilizer to protect the work surface, then use it later for another project.
6. Place the fabric or garment on the Aqua Film in the hoop, carefully matching all the stitching lines. The spray adhesive allows the fabric to be repositioned if needed. If necessary, remove the hoop from the machine while positioning the fabric. if the hoop is not removed from the machine, stand directly over it to check that the fabric is properly aligned.
7. Start the machine again. The remainder of the embroidery design will sew, overstitching the edges of the cutwork.
8. remove from the machine and remove excess stabilizer.