Jump stitches are threads carried across the design between two stitching areas, and they are trimmed rather than prevented.
Why they exist. When one colour finishes in one place and starts again somewhere else, the thread travels between the two. A good digitiser minimises them by ordering the stitching sensibly, but some are unavoidable.
Automatic trimming. Most current machines cut jump stitches above a set length as they go, which reduces the job to tidying a few short ends. Some allow the trim length threshold to be set. If yours trims automatically, the remaining work is small.
Trimming by hand. Use curved embroidery scissors or a duckbill appliqué scissor, which lets you cut flush without catching the fabric. Trim as each colour finishes rather than at the end, while the design is still in the hoop and the threads are easy to see and lift.
Never pull a jump stitch. Pulling drags the stitches at both ends out of place and can distort the fill. Cut it at both ends and lift the loose length away.
On the back, trim the bobbin side too, and check for loops before removing the hoop.
Reduce them at the source by choosing designs with sensible colour sequencing, and by not scaling designs in ways that add travel.
On a knit or an open weave, be particularly careful — a scissor point that catches the fabric behind a jump stitch makes a hole that shows.
Questions people actually ask
Can I just leave them?
On a design with only a few short jumps, they are barely visible. Long carried threads catch and pull in wear, so trim those.
My machine trims but leaves tails.
Normal. Snip the remaining tails flush with curved scissors while the work is still hooped.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11