How to cut those pesky jump stitches when machine embroidering

This article is brought to you by Lizzsews.

Jump stitches can be annoying, they're little threads in your design that are hard to cut, and you need to cut really close to the design!

There are two options for when to cut the jump stitches, you can either wait till the very end of the embroidery and cut the stitches after you take the design out of the hoop or you can cut the stitches as the machine does them.

Landscape patch embroidery design from above

Let me explain more,

1. You let the design stitch out as normal then once it’s done, take the material out of the hoop. Use small, sharp scissors and cut each thread from the starting part of the jump to the ending part of the jump. The hard part about this method is that often the jump stitches get stitched over from other stitches. This can either, a: hide the jump stitches and now you no longer need to cut them, or, b: stitch over the jump stitches in sections so that your one stitch is now two or more different sections to cut.

Recommended read: How to hoop fabrics for machine embroidery

2. After the machine completes a jump stitch, let it stitch a few reinforcement stitches, then pause the machine. Cut the stitch from the source, then cut from where it is now. Start the machine and continue the design. The problem with this method is that you need to be close to the machine, ready to cut each jump, you must pause the machine, and cutting while the hoop is in the machine is quite difficult!

- Most times a combination of these two methods works best.

- I definitely recommend small and sharp scissors, with emphasis on the sharpness of the tip of the scissors. When using the second method of cutting jump stitches, there are actually certain types of scissors with a curve to help with it. Although I still prefer to use the small scissors that came with my machine, can be seen in the picture above.

- Always cut as close to the design as possible. Remember, with machine embroidery, if the design was digitized right, there will be enough reinforcement stitches that you don’t need to worry about cutting too close.

Recommended read: How to embroider patches

Share any other methods you use or tricks you have in the comments! And don't forget to subscribe to get notified for my next blog post!

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