Embroidery It Packing Peanut

Hi Friends,

I love the look of metallic thread in my embroidery projects but gosh darn that stuff is wirey and has a mind of its own.  I also have some thread with two colors twisted together.  It is so pretty but it twists between the spool and my machine and will catch on all sorts of stuff.  That leads to jammed machines, broken needles and ruined projects.  Yes, truly all three of those things have happened to me just from using difficult thread.

I have a couple of tips to hopefully help out and cause less grief when using this beautiful thread.

  1. Don’t leave your machine’s side.  Don’t go get a drink, run to the bathroom, nothing.  Stay right there while it stitches and keep an eye on it.
  2. Thread it through a sewing needle and then thread it through a packing peanut.  You can see it in the picture.  This gets loops out before the loop goes into the machine.  It cost me $139.oo one time when a loop got hooked up in my machine and jammed it up requiring a couple new parts.  Ugh!
  3. The metal piece you see just above my thread is my bobbin tension when winding a bobbin.  Brother machine inventors, if you are listening to me, that was NOT a smart place to have that as I have had thread, not just metallic thread catch on it and when it does, it pulls that thread tight and I end up with a broken needle.  What you don’t see in the photo is I have a small square of Glad Press and Seal, you know the stuff you use to cover food in the refrigerator, and I put that square of Press and Seal over the metal tension disk to keep thread from catching on it.
  4. Cover your thread with a piece of thread netting.  That also helps keep the thread coming off the spool smoother.
  5. Slow your machine speed down.  Again, this helps the thread come off the spool smoother.
  6. Don’t leave your machine’s side.  Oh wait, I said that before!  Yes I did, because it is that important when working with difficult thread that you babysit your machine.  If you don’t do any of the other tips, DO THIS ONE!!

Metallic thread gives your machine embroidery an incredible look so I don’t want to scare anyone away from using it.  Just know that using it requires a little more attention and care.

Embroidery Blessings and remember…

Be Creative Daily!

Nancy