How To Remove Stitches Without A Seam Ripper

Undoing stitches is an everyday activity for most designers and tailors. Maybe you want to do a perfect repair job, repurposing a garment or correcting a flaw in the stitching. It’s always easier with the help of a seam ripper but what if you don’t have one with you? Is it possible to remove stitches without a simmer ripper and do a neat job while at it?

How To Remove Stitches Without A Seam Ripper

A seam ripper comes in handy when it comes to removing stitches, but the same job can be done with relative ease through improvisation. To remove stitches without a seam ripper, you may choose to repurpose any sharp object, pair of scissors, some straight pins or even a razor blade if you trust your steady hands. 

You also need to know if the object you settle for can run under the thread without causing damage to the garment or punching holes. Additionally, the type of stitch and tightness should guide you on whether or not the seam ripper alternative you have settled for will do the trick.

For instance, seam intersections, thick fabrics and multiple layer stitches are already challenging to deal with even with the help of a handy seam ripper. In such cases, using a pair of scissors or razor blade to cut through the thread, albeit with great care, will work better.

Straight pins seem to be the most accessible and readily available tools for most tailors so you might try using them if you don’t have a seam ripper. They are great if the stitch you are dealing with is not too tight. You may also struggle if the thread used is of the strong type. 

The easiest way to remove stitches with a handy straight pin is to start from the beginning of the stitch pulling out a stitch every three intervals. After that, you can proceed to pull the full length of the thread as it will be loose at this point. You may need to pull at shorter intervals and pull the thread more frequently if it’s a tougher stitch like a backstitch or a split-stitch. Keep an eye on where the straight pin digs into as you would with a seam ripper so you don’t end up pulling part of the fabric as well.

Step By Step to Remove Stitches Without A Seam Ripper

Working without a seam ripper requires some extra care as the tools you will be using are not meant for the job. However, you might find it easier to use these improvised tools for some jobs especially if you are correcting a big flaw or doing some repairs. As suggested earlier, you are more likely to have some handy straight pins with you as a tail if you can’t get your hands on a seam ripper. 

Here is a more detailed look at how you would remove a running stitch or similar stitch with short or long intervals with a simple straight pin.

Step 1. Prepare Your Garment

For a seam, ensure that you are working on the inside of the garment as opposed to the outer side. This will prevent you from doing visible damage to the fabric on the outer part should you miss a thread or dig into the fabric while trying to pull the thread.

Identify where the seam stitch started from as opposed to the end. You will have an easier time undoing from the start and maybe use a pair of scissors or razor for the tighter and more challenging seam end.

Step 2. Removing The Stitches

It’s easier and safer to pick out the stitches piece by piece, jumping every three stitches if it’s a simple, running stitch or something similar. Don’t be tempted into sinking your straight pin through the inside of the seam and reaping the entire seam. You wouldn’t do that if you were using a seam reaper either as it would definitely rip your garment apart. 

Step 3. Pulling The Thread

After cutting through the stitches to the middle, you can now trackback and pull the loose thread for each interval. This shouldn’t take too much effort as the stitches are already loose. If you feel some resistance from the freed thread, then you probably need to pull the stitch on the next interval. Carefully remove the thread to the start and continue with your straight pin to the end of the seam.

Step 4. Finish With A Pair Of Scissors Or Razor Blade

The end of the seam might be a bit tougher to deal with a feeble straight pin. Here you will need to grab a pair of sharp scissors or razor blade and carefully cut the stitches out through the middle of the seam. Make sure you don’t cut the fabric in the process. Having come to this point, this is probably the hardest part of the job and where you’ll probably wish you had that seam ripper with you!

Other Tools You Might Use As Alternatives To The Seam Ripper

Here are some other tools that might come in handy should you need to remove stitches without a seam ripper.

A Pair Of Scissors

You can use your trusty pair of fabric scissors to cut through the middle of your seam. It would even be better if you have a sharp pointy pair of embroidery scissors with you. You might find it easier to rip the seam open at one end and then progressively cut the stitches pulling the two sides apart. Of course, the amount of force and size of scissors you use depends on the type of seam, fabric and thread you are working with. 

Thread Ripper Blade (Fabric Blade)

You can choose to cut through tough stitching with a sharp thread ripper. These fabric blades come in handy when you are dealing with super-strong Serger seams and other tuff stitches. However, you must be extra careful not to nip the fabric in the process and spoil the entire garment. Use the blades as the last option especially if you are only doing minor repairs or working on soft fabric such as silk and cotton.

Toothpick

This is slightly on the extreme side and only advised if you can’t find anything else to work with. A good toothpick can help you remove loose thread on a seam especially if you are working with soft fabric. Use the toothpick to pick through each stitch individually making it loose enough until you can pull it out. 

Razorblade

You can use the razor blade the same way you could use the inside of a seam ripper to cut the stitches free. Everyone has at some point used a razor blade to cut through stitches. However, you’ll still have to be careful to only cut the individual stitch points and not the underlying fabric. Use a razor blade if you have steady hands!

Related Questions

How Do You Rip Out A Serged Seam?

Removing a Serged seam is the easiest thing you can do if you can get it right from the start. If you look at the Serged thread, you will see two parts: the looped stitching that goes over the edge forming a busy pattern and the straight stitches going across the stitches.  Start by cutting through the straight stitches in intervals and pull them out. Doing this will make the entire Serged seam to disintegrate neatly and you can then go ahead and pull the thread out by hand. 

How Do I Unpick A Thread?

Unpicking thread is a basic skill that you will be using every time you want to remove stitches. You can unpick thread using a seam ripper, a blade or any sharp object by needling through a single stitch and pulling it out at intervals. You will then pull the free thread out with relative ease using your hands.