Suggestion for embroidery thread set?

Err, hand or machine?

If per chance you're trying a spot of hand embroidery, *don't* be tempted to pull off more thread on the grounds you'll get more done! Long threads on the end of a sewing needle *will* twist and tangle!

machine (brother se350)

If you can't feel the thread, it's better to stick to a name brand. There are some excellent buys to be found. Some no-name stuff is fine, others are junk. To start out, you don't really need a full set. You'll want certain colors when you have a specific design to stitch out. I'd suggest you sign up for snipped-for-privacy@yahoogroups.com and check the listings on the Yahoo site for someone getting rid of a lot of thread. Amazon and eBay also have listings. You could even check with a local monogramming-embroidery shop to see if they sell cone ends -- when the thread gets low on the cone, they just replace it, leaving a good amount on the cones.

Generally true, but I knew a guy who was disabled and short of the ready and he used any thread he could get, including serger thread, and consistently turned out astonishingly good work. On a POEM.

At the very least I would do a test sew-out of whatever design I was going to do to be sure the thread worked as hoped for. There's way too much time and cost (in stabilizer, thread, design, and the garment) in machine embroidery to waste it on less-than-quality thread, IMHO.

Beverly

Hmmm. I've always done a test sew-out of any design.

I usually test any new design, but if I were to sew a design I had previously been happy with I probably would not test it again. Unless I changed something like thread, stabilizer, size, etc.

Beverly

Yeah. Agreed. So you'd do a trial run with different threads. Sometimes you can get interesting effects using thread not necessarily designed for embroidery.

Not to mention that it gets all worn and fuzzy before you use it up.

It's usually a mistake to use a thread that's longer than your arm, but there are expedients -- when working a border where there was no place to hide a splice, I pulled off a double-length piece of thread and started in the middle, working one end one way and the other end the other way.

Keeping both ends almost the same length also helps manage a too-long thread -- but one must be very alert to avoid catching the tail in the stitches.

Joy Beeson

I haven't tried that. I put up a fairly large supply of Medeira and R-A, both rayon and poly so it's unlikely I'll need to use serger thread anytime soon. ;-}

Beverly

But don't reject handsewing threads or weaving threads out of hand. Or any other filament you might come across. Who knows, you might spot something before the big companies buy up a bunch, put it on mini-cones, and sell it for a high price. ;-)