Thread, thread

[Barb T]

Huh - not sure why my post got posted twice. Sorry!

[The Wizard of BC]

I'm with Barb on this one. I use Guttermann exclusively. I use the Polyester on my Poly/Cotton Kilts and 100% Cotton on the 100% Cotton kilts. Wool Kilt are sewn with only 100% Polyester.
For basting and hand stitching of straps I use upholstery thread. This is thick, very strong and waxed. Some people don't like the waxing but I find I can re-use the basting thread by simply ironing it straight.

[kfreeouf]

It looks like I'll be paying JoAnn's a visit tomorrow to take advantage of their sale on Gutermann's.
Barb, Thank you for the explanation regarding hand sewing and the dual duty or wrapped thread. Being self-taught to sew, I always thought the problem of the thread hanging up was improper technique on my part. I never suspected my thread was the cause.
The collective knowledge of this group is astounding!!!
Semper Fi,
Keith
PS This will go into my "Things I didn't learn in the Marine Corps" book!

[emolas]

PS This will go into my "Things I didn't learn in the Marine Corps" book!

Ironically enough, sewing is one of the things I DID learn in the Marine Corps (6060/Parachute Rigger)

[James MacMillan]

Ironically enough, sewing is one of the things I DID learn in the Marine Corps (6060/Parachute Rigger)

Not just that, but the first hems were hand sewn by most boots, before they were authorized to blouse thier trousers...... and also the first set of chevrons were lovingly hand sewn by the few as a sign of hard won respect!

[ThreadBbdr]

Re the older kilts. I would bet that the pre 1960s kilt would have been sewn with silk. Before poly thread was improved, my grandmother's rule was Linen and cotton fabric get mercerized cotton thread, wool and silk fabric get silk thread.

Some quilters say that poly threads (even today's improved ones) will 'cut' through the threads of the cloth. I still use 100% mercerized cotton (size 50 or 80) at about 12-15 stitches per inch on the hand sewn altar linens that I do for the church.

Now our kilt fabrics are MUCH studier than fair altar linen or quilting muslins, so we should be fine with poly thread. There's always a trade off and since the strength of the poly is worth it to Barb, I bow to her experience.

[kfreeouf]

Not just that, but the first hems were hand sewn by most boots, before they were authorized to blouse thier trousers...... and also the first set of chevrons were lovingly hand sewn by the few as a sign of hard won respect!

It's not that I didn't sew in the Marine Corps, it's just that I didn't learn it or perfect it in the Marine Corps. I fondly remember the "housewife" (sewing kit) purchased at the PX. I'm pretty sure that thread wasn't polyester Gutermann's though!

Thanks again to all for the excellent guidance given for the original issue of finding a better thread. I was able to take advantage of the sale at Joann's.
Thanks for the tip...I'm stocked up...for now.

Semper Fi,
Keith

[Pleater]

By coincidence I just mentioned elsewhere the largest blanket in the world that the Knitting and Crochet Guild made to get into the Guinness Book of Records and incidentally create 7 to 8 thousand blankets for charity, once it was disassembled.

It was sewn together over a weekend at an Air Army base up in Yorkshire, and I went along to help. We had quite a few of the men helping - I think they are called air troopers, and they were not unfamiliar with the concept of sewing things together.

I think that they had to sew the camouflage scraps onto nets and do other creative stuff. It was nice of them to let us use the hanger, but we had to work around the helicopter - a Lynx, I believe it was, and its guardian was miffed when, on the Friday evening he found that someone had stuffed it full of blankets waiting to be sewn up. I helped him empty it but I did worry in case one got missed and caused problems later. It would be a bit embarrassing to have the cause of some malfunction discovered to be a 6ft by 4ft knitted blanket.

I have an overlocker - that is a serger - and bought large cones of smooth polyester thread for it, though I think that it would do perfectly well with cotton I do not have the right type of bobbins for it, so there is only the one choice. I have used the thread for ordinary sewing, both by hand and machine, and find it not so easy to use as the cotton thread I have. I was in a local market and found a stall with thousands of reels of cotton being sold very cheaply, so I bought a bag full, and I am still using it. I always buy reels of cotton thread if I see any in charity shops, because the supermarkets seem to have taken over the supply of sewing stuff, and if you want what they don't sell - well tough - they have put all the sewing shops out of business.

I have only ordinary requirements for sewing, and find that the cotton thread is good for just about everything. I have real problems with polyester only when it stretches when being sewn and then contracts and makes the seam pucker once the pressure is off it.

[cacunn]

Huh - not sure why my post got posted twice. Sorry!

Because the system realized your advice was so good that it deserved to be repeated.