Do not allow the garment to fold over. Some consultants to the industry recommend the use of blunt end scissors to prevent snagging fabric. Nippers are not particularly useful for this operation. Cutaways, in general, tend to be more resistant to needling perforations than tearaways. In choosing a cutaway, most embroiderers consider ease of cutting, wash stability, hoop stability and perforation resistance.
Cutaways tend to have more bulk than tearaways.
Softness, ease of cutting and stability can often be mutually exclusive properties for cutaway backings. In some cases, the embroiderer needs to determine which property is most important for a particular design. The softer backings tend to have more hoop stretch and, accordingly, will not allow as crisp a design as the stiff ones. There are many different items that may be classified under this heading. Some of the major ones are described next.