Basically what the title says… Is it possible or will I run the cooler by doing this? Is there anywhere I could take it to get it professionally done? I have a beautiful Integrity linens cooler but it sadly has my old barn’s name embroidered across the center of it and my last name on the hip. I would love to be able to keep using the cooler but I think it’s a bit distasteful to use it at shows when I am now riding with a different barn (still in the same area as old barn). Thanks!
I had Katrina at the Clothes Horse remove my embroidery from a wool cooler (I had my old horse’s name on it) and had her redo it with my last name. Looks great and you can’t tell it was ever different.
There are some good Youtube videos on how to take out the embroidery. Yes it can be done. Patience is needed though. Sit down in front of the TV and have a go!!!
Pair of small sharp scissors, like cuticle scissors and a good seam ripper. Took me about a week a couple hours a night in front of the TV with suitable beverage
My embroidery lady has some sort of special tool that does a really, really good job. Having picked some out before by hand-- it LOOKS better if you let a pro do it. And it’s a tedious job not worth doing by hand anyway.
Mustache trimmer/clippers can be really good to break up the embroidery and then use a seam ripper to pull threads. You can use the trimmer at 90 degrees to the thread to break them in the middle. Depending on how the embroidery was done you can sometimes see the holes if you look close. But they generally look pretty good with it pulled out.
Can be extremely tedious, get a good glass of wine or get ready to binge watch a tv show for a while.
I’very done it with small sharp scissors and a seam ripper. It took some patience but it looked good when I finished. I stuck the quarter sheet in a Dryer bag to freshen it up when I finished and you couldn’t tell anything had been removed when I took it out.
You have to be careful but wool will gradually expand into tiny holes, can’t tell anything was ever there after awhile. But be sure its 100% WOOL. No synthetics or blends, won’t work.
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My embroidery lady has some sort of special tool that does a really, really good job. Having picked some out before by hand-- it LOOKS better if you let a pro do it. And it’s a tedious job not worth doing by hand anyway.[/QUOTE]
This ^ Painstaking job and you will ruin a nice cooler if you get impatient. Send it to a pro
(unless you are very patient by nature and have pretty good eyesight, then you are probably good to go)
I second sending it to Katrina at The Clothes Horse. Then have her put something new on it for you! 
Do you pick it out from the front or the back? I would imagine the front would be easier, but you’d have to be careful not to catch the fabric under the embroidery?
Honestly, don’t remember. Just went real slow, think I mostly cut the threads on top and pulled them out the back. It was the name of a horse I had high hopes for that never fulfilled them. That taught me to go with my initials on my horse stuff. Or nothing except initials on an inside label.
Probably would have found somebody local if I wanted to use a Pro but money was tight that year (especially after buying another $$$$$ horse) and hate to pay for something I can do myself. I paid dearly for the cooler, no way I was going to rush it.
If you want to try it, make sure you have good light and wear your glasses with a magnifying glass handy to be sure you know what’s thread and what’s wool. It wasn’t that bad but took time. Lots of it.
I’ve done it from the back. It takes a lot of patience but gets easier as you’re going and things start to unravel. Be very careful! I used sharp tiny scissors and a seam ripper.
There is a curved scalpel type seam ripper at good sewing stores that can get inter the stitches and easily slice them. As well as your finger if you aren’t careful. But it cuts without tugging. Work from the back, there may still be a layer of stabilizing fabric between the stitches and the actual cooler.
Any professional embroider should be able to take out the name for you. They have the tools to do it.
I found that it was relatively cheap, maybe $20 to remove a name off of a trunk cover. I then had them put my name on it and I think my total bill was under $50. This was for a large trunk cover with the name in pretty big letters across the bottom of the trunk cover.
It wasn’t a small piece of embroidery to remove. They had no issues with it at all, I don’t think it is uncommon for them to do this. Just make sure that if you are having them put a new name/embroidery on that the piece you’re embroidering is clean.
There is a round, roll-y tool with little teeth that I saw a pro use before a seam ripper. I think its purpose was to lightly cruise over the pattern and cut as many of the threads as you could before extracting them. Of course, you roll across a line of thread in the design, perpendicular to it, you dig?
The whole trick to this thing is to extract the threads without ever pulling on the underlying fabric. Time, great light and zen-like patience are needed, but so is the right equipment. If you are OCD enough to want your HunterPrincess matchy-match monograms, you are OCD enough to rip on an old design. Consider it a test of your commitment to the whole silly tribe. I’ll have you know that I passed my own test; my horse clothing looks great.
And another thing! This is why you have to pick your monogram and not change your mind. But buying a used wool dress sheet in the right colors for pennies on the dollar and then getting crafty with it is acceptable… more than acceptable.
I have the same issue with a jacket…was thinking I would go to the local leather worker and see if she can put some sort of nice looking leather detail over the embroidery…maybe covering it up would be better than trying to remove and redo the embroidery.
