17 Comments »

1. I have a large familey and use alot of fabric sheets, this will save me alot of money, thanks

   Comment by kay — July 17, 2009 @ 4:52 am

2. I’ve done this before, and still do it. It also makes my project smell good too. Great little tip!

   Comment by Penny Kitzmiller — July 17, 2009 @ 8:21 pm

3. I have used dryer sheets. Do wash them first to get out all the softener.
   I also use a product called Soil Separator purchased at Lowes. It is in the plumbing section and works well. Workman use it under pipes when putting them in the ground. I like it. I know there has been discussion on the forums regarding this, and some have positive comments and some not. I think I got a 2 1/2 foot wide roll and a big one for about $17.00. I have been using it for nearly a year and still have a lot left.

   Comment by Joyce — July 17, 2009 @ 8:37 pm

4. I have been doing the same thing for years now. Used fabric sheets work terrific and are very cost effective and one can truly say you have ‘recycled’ them. Also, the large coffee filters work equally as well, especially in the round hoops that some machines have. I never throw away decent sized pieces of stabilizer either, what I do is use a glue stick (not hot glue) and piece them together or sew them together with a zig zag stitch. Works wonders!

   Comment by Susan Palmer — July 17, 2009 @ 8:39 pm

5. I purchased the new Purex complete 3-in-1 laundry sheets recently . I am also using the sheets after the fact for stabilizer and they work great for the smaller designs too.

   Comment by Kimberli — July 17, 2009 @ 9:47 pm

6. I used to sell machines and we had some weird repairs from people trying to save money by using non standard stabilizers. One poor woman had to replace her entire embroidery arm from using coffee filters. The non standard items can leave little pills or balls or whatever in your machine. I would be very hesitant to do this. I am broke too but replacing your embroidery arm is not cheap!

   Comment by Hagrids mom — July 17, 2009 @ 10:40 pm

7. I dont use the fabic softner sheets now as I received email about them causes dryers to go over heat. If you do you need to take your filter screen from your dryer and wash it in soapy water occassionly as the softner clogs the holes. They say to put under running water and you will see what they are saying. The email came from studies of fires in houses. Hope this helps someone.

   Comment by Rose — July 18, 2009 @ 3:24 am

8. Some ladies here are using Septic Tank Liner from Lowe’s or Home Depot. Some are even using it for stabilizer- but using 6 sheets as the STL is very lightweight. No stretch. I do not know how it holds up behind cloth after multiple washings, but great for preview stitch-outs. You may have to ask someone in the store to find the product.

   Comment by Jan — July 18, 2009 @ 4:22 am

9. I did not think of this. I do use the used dryer sheets as a stabilizer in sewing strips of fabric together to make scrappy blocke, so this is just another perfect way to recycle! Thanks for being so smart and sharing with us!

   Comment by sewing4jesus — July 18, 2009 @ 6:56 am

10. Personally, I don’t use dryer sheets anymore because of the addition of chemicals to my clothing and clogging my filter. I use the rubber balls and my clothing and towels come out soft. Some stabilizers are pretty expensive and I never thought about using things like septic tank liner or soil separator. Are these items linty and do they leave fuzz in your machines?

    Comment by Mary — July 18, 2009 @ 8:05 am

11. I’m all for saving money too. I save larger pieces of tear away and patch water soluble stabilizer. I really like to use Glad Press’n Seal as a topping for large areas of fill stitch or applique on bibs or towels. I’m not so sure after spending literally thousands of dollars on an embroidery machine I want to take a chance on something that close to the bobbin case.

    Comment by Margaret — July 18, 2009 @ 12:13 pm

12. The purpose of doing a test sew-out is to 1) see how the design stitches, 2)to ensure you’re using the proper stabilizer and needle, 3)to verify you are using the correct colors for your project, and 4)to confirm all of the above works on your project medium and make any necessary changes before sewing on your project. With this being said, if you’re going to use a fabric dryer sheet in your final project, then by all means use it for your test sew-out. Otherwise you run the risk of being very disappointed in your project stitch-out. I, for one, do not want to spend all that time working on a project only for it to be ruined because of an error in judgement.

    Comment by Dena — July 18, 2009 @ 2:41 pm

13. What another great idea, would never thought of it. This has been a marvellous newsletter for information. Congratulations to the writers. Cheers and thanks.

    Comment by ossie — July 18, 2009 @ 6:13 pm

14. Wow! I guess we learn something new everyday!
    I know I did… Thanks everyone

    Comment by Sam — July 18, 2009 @ 11:50 pm

15. I have also used the cheap drip coffee filters. They work wonderful for tear away. You can usually get about 200 for .99.

    Comment by Sheila — July 20, 2009 @ 5:09 pm

16. GREAT TIPS!!! WISH I HAD ONE TO CONTRIBUTE

    Comment by Nancy Kelley — July 27, 2009 @ 9:43 pm

17. For the lady who uses Glad Press ‘n Seal for topping her embr on towels, etc, how do you remove the Press ‘n Seal? It is not water soluble like Solvy….?

    Comment by Jan — August 9, 2009 @ 7:28 pm

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