Embroidery Newsletter - StitchFun News

Wrapped Threads

When I first learned to sew, cotton wrapped polyester threads were all you could buy. The polyester core gave the thread strength, and it was wrapped with cotton fibers to make it feel soft. For the most part, it worked well for sewing. But if you ran your machine at full speed, the outer layer of cotton eventually broke, and the fibers were pushed upward as the polyester core continued to feed, created a huge knot, until the strain was too much and the polyester core broke, or the needle broke, or the machine jammed.

Embroidery machines almost always run at top speed. Wrapped threads are a disaster waiting to happen. Rayon, polyester, silk or cotton threads consist of long strands of a single fiber type, twisted together. These threads can still shred (as I am sure you have experienced), but they are much better for your machine than the old wrapped threads. The longer the individual fibers are, the stronger the thread and the better it will run.

Early metallic threads consisted of a polyester or nylon core wrapped with a thin strip of metal. The metal was very brittle and broke easily. Such threads are still for sale. Avoid any metallic thread with a crinkly appearance, or that you know is a wrapped thread. You will hate using it. Newer metallic threads are a secret mixture of ingredients, bound together, then formed into a flat, ribbon-like thread. These threads not only perform better that the old wrapped threads, they also reflect the light in amazing ways.

Next issue: embroider as you sew

from Mary Jane Allen of Perfect Little Stitches

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