STABILIZATION...
Cross Stitch designs are generally quite dense designs. That means that there are alot of tiny stitches, very close together, which can tend to pull your fabric out of position as it stitches. It is therefore very important to stabilize correctly. Correct stabilization will provide for excellent outlining of all shapes.

We currently suggest you use a lightweight iron on stabilizer like America Sews "Fuse N Tear". This very lightweight iron-on stabilizer works like a dream, especially on small to medium-sized designs. You should only need 1 layer of this stabilizer, for woven fabrics.

There are also some nice light weight mesh iron-on stabilizers that work well, especially for larger designs (5" x 7" or larger). You should also use a Basting In the Hoop function, if your machine has it. This function bastes a rectangle around the outer edges of the area the design. You should also use steps 5 and 6 below.

For large hoop designs or multi-hooping a large design, we recommend using John Solomon's "Fusible Poly-Mesh #316" stabilizer for large pieces of fabric. For multi-hooping, gently press on two layers. This stabilizer is soft and pliable and easily removed after stitching. 

An alternative method is to use Sticky Stabilizer, following all of the steps below:

1.        Hoop only the sticky stabilizer.

2.        Position fabric or garment to be stitched on top of the hoop.

3.        Place tearaway stabilizer underneath the hoop.

4.        If your machine has a Baste In the Hoop function, use that process to Baste the layers together.

5.        Lower the top tension of your machine a notch or two. This will allow the thread to lie more smoothly on the fabric and reduce the size of the holes the needle makes between stitches.

6.        Slow down your machine speed, 1 stop from its top speed. The stitches will be more even at a slightly slower speed.

After following all of the above steps, if you continue to have trouble getting the Backstitch outlines to line up with the cross stitches, you might want to use Cutaway Stabilizer under the hoop (1 or 2 pieces) instead of Tearaway. Sometimes these very fast-stitching machines will almost "cut" through the Tearaway.