My laugh for the day

Juno,

A lot of what we do doesn't make sense to our DHs, I guess. Tom is puzzled about why I prefer to sew buttons on by hand, rather than by machine. He brought it up the other day when my thread tangled...some of what I was muttering wasn't very ladylike.

I just finished sewing a cotton shirt with Gutterman cotton thread. I had been avoiding Gutterman because of all the complaints heard recently, but it was a perfect color match. This spool is labeled 'made in Greece' and the quality was excellent. I really like the way the cotton stitching seems to just melt into the fabric, and it looks finer to me than Metrosene, even though it's labeled size 50.

Doreen in Alabama

Doreen, I really dislike sewing buttons by machine. I think it takes longer than by hand and never feel that the button is secure. A couple of stitches with a doubled thread and it's on.

You do some of the most beautiful top stitching I've ever seen. I wish mine was half as nice as yours. I picked up some machine quilting cotton thread the other day at the lovely quilt store we now have in town. I know it's Mettler silk finish cotton. It worked like a dream, especially on the hem. You really have to search for the stitching. It's a lot nicer than Metrosene. The skirt is linen. I will now use Metrosene on knits mostly and will make the switch to the silk finish for anything I do in cotton or linen or a combination of those two fibers. Juno

I think my hubby ( a mad aircraft modeller!) appreciates that *some* things are better done by hand, and some better done on the machine. :)

I agree...plus although a thread shank can be created while sewing buttons on by machine, I don't know of any way the sm will wrap the shank, which I always do. So if you're going to go back with needle and thread to wrap the shank, you might as well hand sew the button to begin with.

Well, thank you. I'm convinced that more than half the battle for nice top stitching is related to the presser foot and needle plate used. I was so excited when I bought my Bernina 1230 (never tried it out in the store, shame on me), and immediately disappointed with the quality of its straight stitching. Despite its price, no straight stitch foot (#13) or single hole needle plate came with the machine. Getting the dealer to obtain those two parts for me made a world of difference. It still is a wonder to me that the dealer didn't use them herself...and she sewed for the public and taught heirloom-by-machine sewing classes!

I've used Mettler silk finish cotton thread for hand piecing, and for hand applique before I discovered silk thread. Never tried machine sewing with it, though. Thanks for the tip.

Doreen in Alabama

This is not a question one should ask on news:rec.woodworking :-)