I don't have an embroidery machine, MaryAnn, but on occasion I have received a piece of clothing with something embroidered on it (usually a company logo), and I just very carefully use a seam ripper to cut the threads on top, then pull them out.

Seam ripper is one of those tiny two-tined fork looking things, usually made in two plastic parts, one with the pointy sharp ends and the other a slipcase for part one. I bet you have one!

Hi Red Confetti, I bought a mustache trimmer and just tried it, but it didn't clip any threads! I've used a seam ripper before to try to take out stitches and it took forever! Guess that's what I'll have to try now.

Thanks!

Hey, MaryAnn, I'd use the seam ripper from the back side, that way if it slips, you'll cut the stabilizer and (hopefully) not the front of the garment. I know it's tedious...I once ripped out a partial design from a terry cloth towel. Thought I'd lose my mind (to say nothing of my eyesight!) I once tried a small trimmer that was intended to trim dogs, but that too, as the mustache trimmer you got, wouldn't remove the stitches.

Mary L

I've used a Conair for years for hand embroidery after having a mishap with the thread ripper on aida cloth. The trick is to rub it back and forth...you get a lot of fuzz that leads to a lot of stitches eventually being removed. Just keep fuzzing, removing the fuzz, and fuzz again. Eventually you get all of the thread removed without damage to the fabric and a lot of thread fuzz.

It's an art to rip seam stitches out with a thread ripper with minimal use of the ripper. If you clip about every 6 or 7 stitches on the bobbin side, the top thread becomes loose and you can usually pull those top stitch threads to release the seam; the other method is to do the above to get started and then cut the stitch between the two pieces of fabric and the original way I was taught (do not run the seam ripper the whole length up non-stop, you will cut the fabric at one point or another.

For embroidery, I would recommend using something like a knitting needle between the stitches and the fabric and then rip that way.

I recently discovered that the press-n-seal works fairly well in removing lint...fold a bit back on itself and roll along over your hand...I like to use it to clean up the ironing board and sewing surface because it's low tack and a really good lint and snips of anything catcher.

I use the mustache trimmer, on the back side, bottom side upward. You basically just cut the bobbin stitches & pick out the thread from the top side. Keep the fuzz brushed out of the blades on the trimmer & oil them too. You don't use it as in shaving. You use the straight edge of the trimmer with a back & forth motion across the thread. Your stabilizer protects your fabric.

I just placed an order for Peggy's Stitch Eraser 3 - I have heard that it works great. We'll see. After I receive it, I will post a message since I have a garment with stitches that need to be removed.

Well - I received my Peggy's stitch eraser and started to work on the design which needed to be removed.

I was a bit impatient, but after much work I did get the design removed. You have to be very careful and very, very patient.

I had an iron-on stabilizer which I believe makes it harder to remove stitches. It does work, but patience is the key.