Writing on the textile side of life today.
Yesterday, I went out to get some materials to make the quilted borders for my latest project, a deity-less thangka commissioned by Sharon Gould in Milan (see photo above). For those of you who may remember, this is where the clouds I posted on Facebook a few months ago ended up. At the fabric store, Threads magazine caught my eye with its colorful cover photo of — fittingly — thread.
This month’s issue features a story by Threads editors, Deana Tierney and Judith Neukam, on how thread is manufactured. It reminded me of a recent learning experience of my own.
I’m fairly new to machine sewing, so when my new machine kept jamming and skipping stitches while free-motion quilting, I thought there was something wrong with it. Strangely, it worked fine with rayon embroidery thread, though. The problems arose only when working with black cotton thread.
I took the machine to the Bernina dealer for help. He checked it out and found nothing wrong, and then asked to see the thread I’d been using. Well, apparently my thread (bought in an Italian supermarket) was of a very low quality. The Bernina man had a very unflattering nickname for this particular brand of thread. Okay, lesson 1: all thread is not alike. Who knew?
But then the real surprise came: in low-quality thread, the black will be especially bad, he told me. Huh? Yes, apparently all the dye errors and surplus of any color gets re-dyed as black. So the black thread may well have been through multiple dye baths, weakening it’s surface.
Reading in the Threads article about the last step in the manufacturing process, the finish or lubricant that’s applied to the thread, I imagine this too may have been sub-standard in my black supermarket thread. “The finish is a coating developed by chemists and determined by the thread’s purpose. Many factors are considered — whether it is meant for hand or machine sewing, home or industrial sewing, or if it is for garment construction or embellishment…” (or simply for jamming up one’s sewing machine!). “The lubrication for sewing machine thread enables the thread to withstand the friction and heat from passing through the machine, improves sewability and ensures consistent tension.”
My thread was clearly lacking in these categories. Maybe it was intended for hand stitching only.
The Tierney and Neukam article doesn’t go into the specifics about twisting thread — just mentions that it is indeed twisted after being pulled, spun, and dyed.
Opposing twists give thread (and string and rope) greatly increased strength. I would never have realized this if it weren’t for learning to make my own string and thread during my apprenticeship with the Tibetans in Dharamsala.
All the silk threads employed in the embroidery and couching work of an applique thangka are twisted by hand from loose filaments of silk. I twist two strands of silk separately in one direction and then together in the opposing direction. In this way, the fragile filaments become a fine, break-resistant thread.
Similarly, the white strings that outline the thangka in its brocade borders and the red strings at the outer edges of the border are twisted from strands of cotton. In India, we worked in teams on meters-long strings. Working on the roof of our workshop, two or three of us would each separately twist a strand for several minutes between our palms in one direction. When the twist felt about as tight as it could get, we stepped together to unite our twisted strands, and one of us would twist all the strands together in the opposite direction to form a strong and thick border cord. There’s no end to the surprising things one learns in a traditional apprenticeship!
As always, this is just so interesting. I have never really given thought to different qualities of thread – I just go to the fabric store and buy a spool. When I was quilting and doing needlework, I bought the appropriate thread. I know there are silk threads too – so – it makes me wonder – when making handmade clothing, wouldn’t it make more sense to use thread of the same material as to what you are using – i.e. if it is wool, use wool thread, if it is silk, use silk, if it is synthetic, use synthetic. Just a thought – and something I’d never considered before reading this!
Hi Vickie.
Actually, the Threads article suggests NOT matching thread to fiber content. They say that it “doesn’t always work” because “the fiber qualities we love in a fabric” — particularly fabrics such as wool, linen, and rayon — “don’t translate into the best threads for construction sewing on a machine. It seems appropriate to use cotton thread on cotton fabric,” they go on to say, “but you might find over time, for garment sewing, you’ll wish you had used a core-spun polyester for strength and wear.”
I do generally use silk in my work, because the precious quality of the silk is part of the preciousness of offering a sacred image — and silk is strong. But there are always more factors to consider than we’d ever thought of before! Thanks for your interest.
Hi Leslie:
What a “Beauty” you’ve shared with us again. I wish you many reveling moments soaking up the CA nature.
be well