Keep it neat - Ways to keep the back neat and fix common embroidery mistakes

We can't begin to tell you how important it is to keep the back free of loose threads and hanging knots. Why, you ask?

Because it shows through to the front side. You will see thread "shadows." When your batting and backing are sandwiched together, they press against the underside of the embroidery. That forces everything that is underneath to show through to the front. In this tutorial, we have included techniques to keep the backside neat and ways to clean up the back without starting over (sometimes).

Example of thread "shadows"

Back side view of embroidery

This is what happens when you:

Jump around the back and don't check the backside of your embroidery to make sure the thread is not tangling and knotting.

Tie big knots and leave long tails.

This is what you want to avoid. If you're a novice, take your time, try to relax and go slow.

If you begin with the Knotless start, avoid jumping around, and weave the ends as you go (no knots), this is what you will see on the backside of your finished square!

1. How to travel with the thread and avoid jumps

One way to avoid jumping from place to place is to travel with the thread on the backside. This way you won't have to rethread your needle constantly or make big jumps dragging the thread across the backside to start a new area.

When you come to an intersection, finish the shortest section first. In this case, you will want to finish the back leg of the elephant before continuing the next leg.

Now that the back leg is finished, keep the needle and thread to the back. Turn the work over on the backside.

On the backside, travel the thread up by weaving through the stitches you have just made.

Continue up to the intersection of the legs.

Bring the needle through to the front at the intersection and continue stitching the next leg.

2. How to fix common embroidery mistakes

We have found that occasionally a square will need some additional cleaning up on the back. This will take care of the unsightly thread "shadows" on the front.
This apple has a few problems: hanging threads, tangled knots and the stitcher has caught the corner of the square on the backside.

Carefully cut the embroidery floss and undo a few stitches to release the corner of the square. Re-hoop the square.

Still working from the back, undo an inch or so of stitches leaving tails on both sides as pictured above.

Fold the tail back onto the previous line of stitching. Using a needle threaded with the same color thread, sew around several stitches trapping the loose thread you cut. This "wrapping" will secure the tails.

You can see in the photo above that you are continuing to wrap till you get to the area you need to re-stitch. (Trim tails from any knots.) Turn your square over, front side facing you. With your needle still threaded with the appropriate color, re-embroider those stitches you have removed. Simply stitch over the grey line of the image.

Once you have completed the stitches you removed, take your needle again to the back and repeat the steps for securing the tail, by laying it over previous stitches and wrapping it.

Nicely cleaned up!

3. Getting rid of knotted thread

Here you can see the back of a square where some thread became snarled and knotted. As this will result in a shadow on the front, it's worth the time to clean it up.

Using a needle, gently tease out the knot and free the excess thread.

Using the Knotless start, thread a needle with some white thread. Lay the excess threads over the previous line of stitches and begin to wrap them so they are secure.

You can see that you are "hiding" the excess threads behind the stitches. You will not be sewing into the fabric.

After working an inch or so, you can clip the threads.

The clean-up is complete.

The front of the apple looks the same as before but without the dark shadows of threads showing through, and you can remove the hoop.

4. Uncut tails

Here you can see that the stitcher put double knots when they finished a section. Just snip one away.

This stitcher didn't trust one knot, but we do, and you can too!

5. Fixing long jumps without cutting the thread

Even though it seems like a time-saver to jump around, it can really spoil the front of square. So we like to thread a needle with white thread, and hide the offending floss by securing it to a line of stitching.

Here you can see the start of this technique. You'll be using the back the embroidery stitches to wrap the white thread around the long aqua thread, securing the aqua thread in place. Avoid piercing the fabric.

Now that this long aqua thread is secured in place, it won't show through in front.

6. Cleaning up a knotted thread

Can you see the shadow of the long threads showing through the fabric to the right of the little balloon? Here's how to remove this thread shadow.

Most likely the stitcher didn't end and cut the thread before moving to another color. So the resulting tails got caught up in other stitching. Take a needle and tease the knotted area to free the thread. If it's long enough, you can re-thread it into a needle and weave around the stitches for a nice, clean ending.

Clip the ends.

7. When you have to cut and re-stitch

Sometimes the knotted area is just too stubborn, and the only thing to do is to remove the stitches and re-do them.

Carefully clip the back of the stitches close to the area you want to redo. Be careful to avoid snipping into the fabric square.

When clipping and removing the tangled stitches make sure to leave a tail. You may need to undo a few stitches to ensure a tail.

Thread a needle with the same floss color. Use that threaded needle to secure the back of the stitches by wrapping the threads around the remaining tail.This will keep the old thread from unraveling. Push your threaded needle to the front so you can re-embroider the stitches you have just removed.

Turn to the backside, and weave the thread under a few stitches before clipping.