Measurements & Cotton vs Silk thread

Try to match the thread with the garment. If you want to use a general purpose thread, then use a cotton polyester.

I'm an advocate of like with like: silk for silk, poly for poly, cotton for cotton: I use polycore (poly middle wrapped in cotton) as an all purpose thread and for silk when I cannot get a good silk thread.

One thing to remember is that silk is a mono filament, like polyester: cotton is a softer fibre and can be cut by the silk fibres in a garment... And poly thread can cut cotton fabrics! It's rare, but if you want to be certain...

I use cotton thread for all wool items, polycore for mixtures, and frequently use rayon embroidery thread for things like buttonholes...

However, if you want a decent thread that really is all purpose, try Empress Mills 120's weight Polycore. They don't distribute in the USA yet, but will send thread by emailed order. Details for them are in my Fabric List on the web site in the Resources section.

Pop over to my web site and take a lesson in taking measurements: it's in the Learning zone. Don't worry about the figure being a gurlie - bloke's measurements are done in all the same places. :)

Shoulder width is a good one, and take care with things like heavy upper arms and thighs: you don't want garments to be tight at these points!

I'm sure you meant "filament" not monofilament. They are filament threads--- silk filaments extruded by silk worms and polyester by man-made spinnerets. A single filament of silk would be way too thin so many are spun together to form threads which are then often twisted into larger threads. 40 wt poly sewing thread is usually made of three very tightly twisted plies. 50 and 60 wt poly can be 2 twisted plies. There are mono-poly "invisible" threads, however, used mostly for applique and quilting--- not general sewing.

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North Americans have wide access to excellent, lint-free poly (and cotton) sewing threads made by Superior.

So Fine, which is a 50 wt. 3 ply, and Bottom Line, which is a 2 ply 60 wt are my two polyester favorites. I use Bottom Line also as a bobbin thread for quilting and embroidry. Their Masterpiece cotton is really awesome as well. I usually get mine from...

... because she often has really good specials but it's widely available over the internet. Lots of the quilters like "King Tut" as well. Fabulous threads! They are not carried by the chain stores I don't think.

Phae

Silk's lovely to work with, but expensive. Very high tensile strength for diameter -- may exceed steel, but I don't recall for sure. Cotton is less expensive, much, much lower breaking strength. Good cotton is nice to work with; cheap cotton is nasty.

Most of my everyday sewing is with a good quality polyester thread -- the $3/1 spools are not that. Poor quality thread can make you think your machine is on its last legs, btw. Pretty good article:

I tend to save silk for hand sewing protein fibers (silk, wool), for basting, (you can press over it without leaving a mark in most instances), and handmade buttonholes. I don't sew with cotton thread much, and detest cotton-covered poly -- the worst of both worlds, imo. Poly has good breaking strength, relatively low stretch, and is readily available.

If the tape was parallel to the floor, I'd use the 55" measurement.

And waist and hips 57, at least for the purposes of pjs. FWIW, KwikSew's 2x men's measurements are 52-46-53 with an 18.5" neck measurement -- so I think it's in the realm of possibilities for a beginner to size up something like their 3122 or 2388 if the pants are drafted to be straight from hip to waist (typical for elastic or drawstring waists). Note: I have not made either of these patterns; I'm basing my remark on my general knowledge of other KS patterns and drafting patterns for plus size bodies.

You'll want to have some other measurements to check the pants: rise (crotch length to waist), inseam (crotch to hem) and total crotch length (CB to CF through the legs) -- add about 3" or so to that for measuring the crotch seam length of the pjs.

For the shirt, you'll want neck size, arm length, (nape to wrist) and back length (nape of neck to hem of the shirt).

There are some real difficulties for patterns for plus size individuals -- I suspect part of the reason that they're so scarce is pattern companies seem to think that if you take a size L and toss it on the copy machine set to enlarge, you've got a pattern that will work. Unfortunately for that particular set of assumptions, it fails miserably, usually producing some combination of necklines well out onto the shoulders, shoulder seams around the elbow, sleeves that tear out, and pants that dive rearward the second you sit. (The pulling pants is a result of too short a total crotch length for the wearer, and is often accompanied by too short a rise, compounding the problem.)

Bigger folks usually need more room in the back of the sleeve to help prevent it tearing out -- you have more padding on the back of the shoulder joint, so you need more fabric to go around the curvature here, just as you need longer pieces of wood to go around the outside curve when you're laminating a curved piece for a boat hull. The usual attempt at a fix is to add a wider yoke to the shirt, which puts the sleeve seam farther down the upper arm, and just accentuates the problem. The only one I know of producing commercial patterns who has figured this out is Connie Crawford -- luckily, the tailored shirt pattern works quite well for both men and women (raise the CF neckline 1/2 and swap button and buttonhole sides for a men's shirt), and the knit t-shirt can be fairly easily adapted to a man's t-shirt. Unfortunately, she is no longer doing custom pants drafts, but her little pants book will teach you the methods, should you care to learn. (The shirt pattern can be converted into a jacket, too, with a little more advanced patternmaking).

There are various computerized home patternmaking software packages out there; I have not tried them (they don't work on the o/s I use). The few patterns I've seen drafted with software have suffered from various problems, including bits that won't fit together. Should you decide to go this route, you may need to fidget with the patterns.

Yes, but they are spun from a bunch of mono filaments: their tensile strength and cutting ability stays the same fir each mono filament, and the bunch together is even stronger. 'Spun silk' refers to silk thread spun from shorter lengths rather than complete cocoon lengths.

No, I haven't seen them here. I have some YLI Japanese silk I can't wait to use: good as the old Kinkame! :)

uh oh (or something worse hopefully not)

my DW has just finished a beautiful blouse with standup (banded) collar and french cuffs of dupioni silk. all the thread was mettler 100% polyesther, which I had procured for another purpose but the color matched exactly. no consideration given to cotton-silk-multi-core etc. does this mean i am in trouble again for helping though ignorance? if it is care for very carefully, as she does all her stuff, should there be any concerns of this thread affecting her blouse?

down in VA klh

Kate Dicey wrote:

It'll work fine. Poly with silk is OK, but I'm fussy and a professional dressmaker, and I just prefer silk with silk.

Not unless the silk rots away leaving just the thread behind - in 20-30 years time!

Typo: silk is a filament thread. Monofilament thread is just *one* filament: "mono" plus "filament" equals "monofilament". When you use only one filament, it has to be a lot coarser than the filaments in silk, which are just like cobwebs -- save that cobwebs are stronger.

Monofilament nylon is sold as "invisible thread" -- it behaves rather like wire, and has no use in sewing, but it does make an excellent cheese cutter. I gather that it does have uses in artwork, and monofilament fishing line is quite useful -- or so I'm told; I don't fish. A single filament is very hard to see in the water, so mono is used for the last few inches before the hook..

Clarification: *reeled* silk is filaments; spun silk is short bits that have been spun like cotton. "Raw silk", which is spun from the waste left from reeling, contains brown specks that look rather like the flecks of dirt in unbleached cotton, and is a very good imitation of cotton when you want something warm and unpretentious that won't chill you if it gets damp.

The most commonly available silk thread is a spun silk that's smoother and stronger than "raw" silk, but still not as strong as reeled silk. I don't like spun silk for seams, but it is less shiny than reeled silk, so it's suitable for top-stitching wool.

I like animal fibers with animal fibers and plant fibers with plant fibers, since conditions that preserve animal fibers destroy plant fibers and visa versa. But some samples of linsey-woolsy woven in the eighteenth century are still around, so you don't have to be

*fanatical* about it.

Joy Beeson

Oops: *technically*, "raw silk" means silk that hasn't had the gum washed out. In catalogs, "raw silk" is a euphemism for silk noil.

Joy Beeson