Troubleshooting Tips for GlitterFlex

Shop Santa Buddies

These troubleshooting tips will help you produce stunning GlitterFlex applique time after time!

The unmatched shimmer of GlitterFlex makes it a gorgeous fabric for machine embroidered applique. Sometimes, if your stabilizer is not quite right or the vinyl is not fused properly, you will need to make adjustments.

Bubbles and Waves

If the GlitterFlex surface is a bit bubbly after embroidery, the GlitterFlex was not fused properly before it was embroidered.

Waves on GlitterFlex usually means that the vinyl was not fused or stabilized properly. Get fusing instructions here.

Waves Around the Embroidery

With regular cotton fabric, waves or puckers mean that the stabilizer used was not adequate for the stitch count of the embroidery design. GlitterFlex vinyl doesn’t pucker quite the same way as cotton fabrics. It took me a long time to figure that out when it occurred. Where I'd have just a little wave, I would scratch the surface and I could see that that vinyl was definitely adhered to the fabric. Yet, there was a little wave around the outer edge of the design because I didn't have enough stabilization.

Proper Stabilizer

More often than not, I'm good with one layer of medium-weight tearaway stabilizer but there are instances where you need a couple of layers. If you're getting a wave and you know that the GlitterFlex has been fused to the fabric, this is a vinyl pucker instead of a fabric pucker.

Stitch Count Matters

When you're getting up in the 20,000-stitch range you might want to use a couple of layers of a medium tearaway stabilizer.  The higher stitch count needs more support. 

Use a Dry Iron

Don’t use steam for the first fuse. After GlitterFlex is fused, has cooled, and is secure on the fabric, you can use steam and even spray starch.

Make sure GlitterFlex is completely cooled before stitching your applique. The push and pull of an embroidery design can lead to some puckering or waviness if you stitch on GlitterFlex that has not completely cooled down. While letting the GlitterFlex cool down, pull all of embroidery threads you will need and line them up next to your machine so you're ready to go.

Fuse GlitterFlex on Cotton

Nylon will melt. Napped fabrics, like velvet or towels don’t allow the GlitterFlex to adhere to the base, it is just secured on the top “hairs” of the fabric. Instead, fuse the GlitterFlex shape to a cotton fabric (even a scrap). Then, use the cotton mounted piece of GlitterFlex as your applique fabric for your towel.

See more GlitterFlex tips and tricks in the video here.

May your day be blessed with perfect stitches and GlitterFlex!!