This tip is certainly valid when your design is small or not dense. When you have a large, very dense FSL design like one to fill a 200x200mm hoop, you need to hoop two layers of strong wss vilene, if you use vilene. Did she use Vilene or some other water-soluble material?

Which WSS did she use?

I use left over pieces of WSS to "sandwich" in the middle for the really dense FSL designs. My machine works so much better that way. I also use pieces on top when stitching directly on a stretchy type material (I hand baste it in place), or fluffy- like housecoats, or towels, the design looks better, & the needle doesn't grab & snag. Tammy ***

This was on PBS Sewing with Sue H. THis lady was a guest on the show. I do very little FLS so I'm not sure of the name. It's the white stuff on a roll that looks like cloth that she used. She sure did beautiful work on her clothes and other items.

Mary Ann

I do belive if she was using just one layer of WSS and stiching on clothes and then using a scrap - that might work really well - but with most FSL designs - you need to be really careful with how you do your second layer - if it isn't tight in the hoop - along with the other layer - you could create a mess - just my humble opinion - it sounds like this women does mostly designs on clothes from your comment. And with the layer of fabric and the WSS - the second layer could very well be a scrap that you float or pin down. Thanks for the top.

I use scraps to heal tears or weak spots in my fsl. Just a drop of water and it will stick - so I re-cover the stitch area, let it dry and continue sewing! I think this depends on the weight of the stabilizer. I have over stablilized my FSL and had problems getting it out! Live Laugh Download Stitch!

I do the same, when using vilene, but if you are using bagdemaster you never need two layers one is enough, your fsl will be so much softer. also if you save all the pieces you can just add a little bit of water, I use a small art brush, and "glue" all the pieces together and save a bunch....hugs and blessings.

I just took a class on Saturday and that is exactly what the teacher told us just to hoop one layer of Aqua Magic and to take the scraps and lay them on top for the second layer no need to hoop and waste more WSS. For this class I was told to use a 90 size needle. The lace designs stitched out beautiful but so many stitches and I only completed 3 designs. So lots of homework this week. Diane

Using my 6x10 hoop I always have a large top, bottom and sides scrap pieces, these I cut and using a thin spread of water "glue" pieces toegether for a second top piece. They are wide enough to be in the hoop for tightness and work very well!

I only use one layer of wss vilene and have had no problems with any of the designs of FSL I have stitcehd out. Sew weird.com has a tutorial about this subject. hugs Helen
http://www.sewweird.com/HowToHoopFSL.html

I also take my large scraps and sew them together with water soluble thread to make pieces large enough to hoop. Works well as everything dissolves. Nan W

I do this all the time on smaller (180 x 130) hooping
projects, my WSS is much larger and I simply fold the
overhand on top and stitch away. Less waste, less costly
Michelle

thanks for sharing !

Thanks for this info. Love Marie

Thanx for the info gathered! I still ama newbie at FSL, but love what I have done. Am going to attempt a bowl! Hope it goes well. Hugs, Judy

Good idea thanks for the tip

I do this all the time, since I'm cheap, er, I mean, FRUGAL hee hee . Thanks Hugs and *'s, Deb