Tips for Getting Tearaway Stabilizer Out of Tight Spaces

Do you have a hard time removing tearaway stabilizer from tight areas? These tips will help make quick work of it!

When to Remove Tearaway Stabilizers

We’re talking this week about tearaway stabilizers. If you are not sure whether to use tearaway or cutaway, read this blog.

Generally, after embroidery, it is good practice to remove unnecessary stabilizer. Tearaway is pretty easy to remove by pressing down along the stitching line and pulling stabilizer away from the stitching area.

Most of the time, large open areas like those inside applique satin stitch edges are partially scored after embroidery. That makes it easy to lift an edge with a seam ripper or pinch in the middle and pull the stabilizer away.

The problem occurs where tiny stitching happens, as in whiskers or other tighter areas of detail embroidery. If the project is used for decorative purposes, most don’t bother to remove those hard-to-get pieces of stabilizer. Otherwise, it can be a challenge.

Tips for Removing Tearaway Stabilizers

If your project merits removing all the tearaway stabilizer, there are some tools you can use that make it much easier.

I borrowed two small picks from my husband's toolbox, one with a straight end and the other with a curved end. The straight end seemed to work best along with my seam ripper.

Use care with seam rippers as they can easily damage and cut fabric and thread. They are good for lifting edges. You can use them to score around the edge of the stabilizer before removal. 

Clover has two different awls with finer tips. Other tools, like those used to lift and weed cut vinyl, also work very well.

Carefully insert points between rows of detail stitching to lift stabilizer enough to grip and pull. Tweezers help to grab small pieces that you can’t grasp with your fingers.

Eventually, with a little care and patience, the stabilizer is removed. There are tearaway washaway stabilizers that work well with items like toweling, where any fuzzy edges left after removing the stabilizer eventually wash away during laundering. That can save a lot of picking!

What tips do you have for removing stabilizer from tight spaces?

Debbie Henry
Sew Inspired by Bonnie