Sewline wash out/erasable fabric pencils

I’ve just added a new product to the Vetty Creations website: Sewline fabric pencils.

This fabric marking pencil is much better for marking fabric than a normal HB pencil and a fabric marker pen (texta). Why? It has ceramic lead that is designed to be easily removable from fabric. It washes out easily and rubs off using the included eraser. It does not sink into the fabric in the way that a marker does, and it won’t bleed as markers sometimes do.

The included lead is green, meaning that it works well on pale fabrics, and darker fabrics. A packet of refill leads comes with the pencil. The leads are 0.9mm, which is thicker than leads in regular propelling lead pencils. This means the lead is less likely to break. I’ve had my pencil for some time now, and dropped it quite some number of times, yet the lead has not broken. (That’s not to say it can’t or won’t break – but even with some punishment, mine still hasn’t yet!)

The lead thickness also means that you always get a constant line thickness, unlike regular pencils which need regular sharpening to maintain a fine line. With a constant lead thickness, you always get a constant line thickness. No need to carry around a pencil sharpener; the lead is always ready to go, whenever you are.

To remove the fabric markings, you can use the following methods:

* gently hand wash the embroidery in cold water
* dab the line with a wet cloth
* use the eraser at the end of the pencil to erase the line

Where possible, the method I prefer to use is to gently hand wash the embroidery. However, there are times where washing is not possible (such as when threads or fabric are not colourfast), and then you could use the eraser method.

When the lead gets worn down through use, more lead can be exposed by pressing down on the eraser at the top of the pencil. A click will let you know that the lead has propelled. To retract the lead, press down on the top of the pencil, and with the other hand, gently push the lead back into the barrel of the pencil.

When the lead is finished, and a replacement lead needs to be inserted, remove the eraser from the top of the pencil, and carefully slide a new lead into the pencil barrel. More than one lead can be inserted into the pencil so that when one lead finishes, the other will be there ready to be used. (This also means if you drop the pencil, you’re at risk of breaking both leads rather than just the one, so I prefer to keep spare leads in the caddy, rather than in the pencil.)

When the eraser gets worn down through use, more eraser can be exposed by holding the hot pink top section of the pencil (where the metal clip is) and twisting the lower part of the pencil. To retract it, simply twist in the opposite direction.

This wash out/erasable fabric pencil is perfect for all your embroidery marking needs. I use mine regularly for any embroidery where patterns and lines need to be marked on my fabric, such as Mountmellick embroidery and Portuguese whitework. Because it washes out easily, I never need to worry that I’ll be left with ugly line markings on the finished embroidery.

Replacement leads in other colours (grey, white, yellow, pink) are available, however we do not yet stock these. If you would like us to, please let us know.

NB: Always patch test on the fabric to ensure lines can be removed satisfactorily. As with fabric marker pens, markings should be removed before ironing.

Sewline fabric pencils are available from the Vetty Creations website.