How Do I Remove Creases from My Embroidery?
Remove folds and creases from your embroidery with pins and a cork mat, or iron safely with towel protection.
An embroidery hoop helps keep your embroidery project taut and crease-free. Unfortunately, you cannot always prevent folds. Sometimes you need to move the fabric in the hoop, or the fabric arrives folded. With a little care, you can correct this problem easily.
Cork mat and pins
You can remove folds and creases with a cork mat or placemat and pins. First wash your embroidery with mild soap. Are the threads not water-resistant? Lightly dampen your embroidery with a spray bottle instead. Let it dry until it is damp; you can briefly wrap it in a clean towel for this.
Attach the damp embroidery to the cork mat. Stretch it as tightly as possible and secure the corners with four pins. Then add extra pins along the edges and let the work dry flat.
Ironing
Ironing is an effective way to remove creases, as long as you work carefully.
Never use a hot iron.
Choose a low heat setting. Test the heat on a scrap of embroidered fabric first. This helps you discover which setting is safe for your current and future embroidery projects.
Was your fabric delivered folded? It is best to remove the folds before you start. Small creases often disappear when you stretch the fabric tightly in an embroidery hoop. For stubborn folds, lay the fabric flat, lightly dampen it with water and smooth it as much as possible with your hand. Then iron carefully.
Place the fabric between two clean towels for extra protection. Make sure the embroidered side faces down and iron over the towels.
Embroidery with raised texture
With knots, tassels, textures and other raised details, you want to avoid heat and pressure on the embroidered area. Cover the stitched part with a thin fabric and iron only around the embroidery. A mini iron can be useful for this.
Happy stitching!
When should you avoid ironing?
Do not iron directly over thick stitches, beads, metallic thread or delicate materials. Always place your embroidery face down on a soft towel and test a small corner first. Use very little pressure: you want to smooth the fabric, not flatten your stitches.
Want to clean your embroidery afterwards? Also read washing embroidery.
