I know I’ve had more than a couple posts about threads… and it’s likely that I won’t ever stop teaching… encouraging… showing… learning more! It’s just THAT IMPORTANT if you want to learn to make metallics SING FOR YOU!
Expand your creative world ‘to infinity and beyond!”with metallics!
Without that knowledge, your fun at the sewing machine… isn’t so much fun! Here are pictures of a couple spools I use frequently, and quite successfully. You may have read my previous posts about Glitter Thread (from Superior Threads). It’s such a fabulous shiny, glitzy addition to any quilting or decorative application…and once you master the tension and knowledge, and yes… troubleshooting… it’s like — well, putty in your hands!
And… then there is YENMET metallic thread… by far, the best metallic thread I’ve ever had the pleasure to sew or quilt with! And if you live here in Great Falls, MT… you can get it at the BERNINA SILVER THIMBLE! HEADS and TAILS above the rest. (if I was asked!) And in Bernina Land, they even recommend Yenmet in the embroidery module! That’s some heavy stitching!
If they are recommending it in the embroidery module, you know it’s gotta be GOOD. Here’s a picture of some embroidery I’ve done, and on JEANS, no less! (Yenmet thread was used in the triple stitching that surrounds the embroidered design from Laurel Burch, and the ‘swirls’ too)
If they are recommending it in the embroidery module, you know it’s gotta be GOOD. Here’s a picture of some embroidery I’ve done, and on JEANS, no less! (Yenmet thread was used in the triple stitching that surrounds the embroidered design from Laurel Burch, and the ‘swirls’ too)
The “L” was done free motion, with a zig zag stitch, using the “Glitter” thread.
The second picture shows Glitter thread, free motion quilting in a straight stitch, over the patchwork cotton, embroidered onto the surface of the jeans.
- you get to use a 90/14 metallic or top stitch needle.
- you get to sew a bit slower
- you get to LOWER your top tension – at least one or two full notches. I always go down to a 1.0 on my Bernina’s.
- best to use a bobbin weight thread (Bottom Line from Superior)
- learn to change out your needle if it gets too hot… yes, it can get hot… metal thread on metal needles equals HOT! So your needle may not be dull… but it may get hot. Switch it out, and then start again.
- learn to re-thread your machine if things don’t go quite right. This is one of the MOST important things to do (it’s a VIP!) . Metallic threads, in my experience, have a tendency to want to ‘pop out’ of the top thread lever.
- use a thread stand if you can, and watch the twist of the thread coming off the cone. Especially for Glitter… take it off the top of your machine, and RE-THREAD it! IT IS ABSOLUTELY one of the BEST THINGS YOU CAN DO!
Once you practice, understand, and apply knowledge, functionality and stitching preferences, you can do sew many things very successfully; even those “high maintenance” type products. I’ve done beautiful zig zags, satin stitching, and more with these beautiful, glitzy threads… and all the silver metallic with GLITTER or YENMET, is FREE MOTION!
and … as Jimmy Dickens once said:
(he’s an (older!) country music guy)…
(he’s an (older!) country music guy)…
“CHICKS DIG GLITZ!”