Guide
The design file is only half the job. Stabilizer, needle, bobbin, and hooping decide whether a good file sews well. This page covers the physical side and how Stichii recommends settings from your actual design.
Cutaway stabilizer stays with the garment permanently and keeps supporting the stitches through wear and washing — it is the right choice for knits, stretchy fabric, and any dense design. Tearaway is removed after sewing and suits stable wovens with lighter coverage. Water-soluble dissolves away entirely: use it as a topping on pile fabrics like terry and fleece so the stitches sit on the surface, or as the base for freestanding lace.
Stichii recommends stabilizer from the density your design actually computes to: heavy cutaway above about 5 stitches per mm², medium cutaway in the middle range, and light tearaway for outline-weight coverage. That recommendation appears on the production worksheet alongside the stitch count and thread estimates.
A 75/11 sharp embroidery needle handles most work; move to a 90/14 for denim, leather, and heavy multi-layer fabric. Ballpoint needles suit knits because they push between the loops instead of piercing them. Change the needle regularly — a dull or burred needle causes thread breaks and skipped stitches far more often than a bad file does.
Bobbin thread is finer than top thread, usually a lightweight white or black polyester. It should never be the same weight as your top thread. Stichii estimates bobbin thread consumption alongside top thread on the worksheet, so you know how much you are actually using before a production run.
Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together, snug but never stretched — stretching is what makes a design pucker when the hoop comes off. For fabric that cannot be hooped without marking, float it on hooped stabilizer instead.
Stichii checks your design against real hoop sizes — 4"×4", 5"×7", 6"×10", 8"×12", 10"×10", Tajima 360×360 mm, and a 60×180 mm cap hoop — and tells you which one fits, including the safe margin, before you sew.
Ready to try it?
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