A question for the thread police

I took a look over at the Red Rock Thread website and they have a section on thread usage for various types of thread. It seems they think that it is used for general sewing of clothing so that is probably what I will use it for. It will probably take me the rest of my life to use it up. But, what the heck, at 2 bucks a cone I figured I couldn't go wrong. even if I only can use it for general sewing. I just didn't want to screw up a quilt that I had spent a couple of weeks piecing and not knowing the pitfalls of polyester. Here is the link to that site. They have some good info there.

John

Well, John, for goodness sake, simply test it. Stitch two long strips of cotton quilting fabric together. Press them with a blazing hot iron and see if it puckers or melts. If they look okay, tug on 'em and see how the sewing holds up. Toss your creation in the wash and dryer and check on that. I'm guessing all will be just fine. The only disasters with thread I've ever had has been when nylon and rayon . . . and it seems like the first editions of 'invisible' (many moons ago) collapsed on me. You may have to do some diddling with tension but it just could be you've struck gold. I hope you have. Polly

John, the quilting police have not yet cometo drag me away, but I use poly thread all the time. I got some dirt cheap (not as good as the deal you got, but still good) and liked it. I use it for construction and have never had a problem w ith it. One really good use I found when I got my art fun pack for October. The activity is fiber etching. You stitch the design you want and apply this caustic sort of liquidd (called Fiber Etching Liquid) on the part you want to go away. Here's where the poly thread comes in. You have to use poly thread to seal the edges of your fabric. That stops the etching liquid. I haven't tried this yet, but I will.

Sunny

My late mother really liked Guttermann's thread and used it for routine sewing on her Bernina -- clothes, curtains, even swimsuits. (She didn't quilt, and did as little hand sewing as possible.)

In that size, they're probably intended for the industrial market. Are there any other markings on the thread cone? Especially a "tex" or "decitex" number? And a marking perhaps like Mara or Corespun? (check inside the cone near the bottom).

Kay

John, Just a thought. There are a couple of uniform manufacturers in your area. I have two big cones of thread meant for UPS before they changed colors. It is tough stuff, can use for most anything. Because of the color, they will never see a quilt except for basting. Maybe garment repair etc. Haven't looked to see if mine are polly. Anna Belle in Palm Bay (originally from Central Ohio)

Lots of people use poly for machine embroidery, according to my friend from whom I am about to purchase her old Bernina 180 with embroidery module. (I'm excited!) Probably also good for a serger, if you have one. My preference is to match fibers if at all possible, and when in doubt, use cotton. Not a poly fan! But I'm not the thread police, so you go ahead and do what works for you! Roberta in D

"John" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@57g2000hsv.googlegroups.com...

The only marking on the stuff, is on a paper label at the small end. It says, Made in Germany 100% polyester, A302 5000m, col1, 100,

1147016. Around the vertical edge of the top of the cone is the name Guttermann. That is all the markings on one of the white cones. There are 4 white cones 2 black cone and 1 blue. the black and the white should be usable for any number of things, the blue might be harder to integrate into the mix. Nothing says "Wrong" more than a thread that is a couple of shades off. I will play around with it and see what develops. I had never heard of using polyester for quilting, but you never know if you don't ask, or try it yourself.

John

John wrote:

The problem with using poly thread on cotton fabric -- for either general sewing or quilting -- is that the poly thread is much stronger than the cotton fibers of the fabric and also doesn't shrink at the same rate as cotton. This means that over time, the poly thread will wear against the cotton fibers and eventually cause the fibers around the thread to fray and break. If you are sewing on a fabric that will shrink gradually over time, then the fibers of the fabric tighten up around the thread and can add to the wear. If you look at spools of common sewing thread -- stuff like Coats & Clark -- you will see that it is "cotton wrapped polyester". This is done so that the poly core won't rub against the fibers of the fabric it is used on. Now for machine embroidery, the strength of poly thread is a bonus. Machine emb. poly thread has a lovely shine to it almost like rayon. I have an Janome 9000 embroidery machine and I have loads of rayon and poly threads I use. For machine emb. on fabrics like cotton, there isn't really any wear on the decorative thread used so the difference in fiber content isn't a problem. Of course, over a long period of time, the fabric is deteriorate but that decorative thread is gonna last forever -- LOL! I have used my machine embroidery threads on quilts but only for decorative quilting. I have often used my cotton wrapped poly thread for the actual quilting (not construction) but it depends on the quilt and what I know it will be used for. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

They sound like Gutterman serger thread. Use for clothing construction.

Thanks for the info. That is what I was looking for. So it's acres of machine embroidery for me with that stuff.

John

Howdy!

R/Sandy-- using almost any thread color for piecing multi-color quilt tops

Sounds like it might be a Tex 30 thread intended for sewing heavy fabrics, but not as heavy as buttonhole twist. Might do a very credible job as a quilting thread when you want the thread to stand out a bit more.

Kay