Welcome to Part Two of my &#;Ode to Thread: The BEST Quality Sewing Thread,&#; a series of blog posts dedicated to that little old thing that none of us could quilt without. If you missed Part One and want to hear about our thready superhero&#;s origin story: How Thread is Made, click here. If you don&#;t have a minute to read it, don&#;t worry. I&#;m sure Marvel will make it into a major motion picture soon.

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This second installation is a good, important one. We&#;re talking about thread quality (any thread quality inspectors out there?) Like pizza, not all thread is created equal, but also like pizza, when it&#;s good, it&#;s so good. So what is it that makes good thread good? That&#;s what we&#;re about to find out.&#;

Those loose fibers can be left behind in your machine, gumming up your gears like nobody&#;s business, and they&#;ll leave behind a thinner, weaker thread after they leave. Many of the spools of thread you&#;re tempted to pluck from the bargain bin are loose and hairy like this, even if you can&#;t tell by looking at it with the naked eye (but usually, you actually can.)&#;

You don&#;t want everything (or everyone) in your life to be tightly-wound, but when we&#;re talking about thread, that&#;s exactly what you want. If that means shelling out a little extra cash, it&#;s worth it in the long run. Whether you&#;re working with cotton, silk, or polyester thread, you will find different levels of quality from thread to thread. Go for the good stuff.&#;

Choosing the Best Quality Sewing Thread for the Job&#;

Now that I&#;ve (hopefully) convinced you that you and your sewing machine deserve the best, let&#;s talk about what kind of &#;the best&#; you need for your project.

Not everyone considers it polite to talk about weight, but when it comes to thread, you gotta get personal. Thread, like yarn, comes with a number, and in general, the lower the number, the thicker the thread. These numbers sometimes come to you in fraction form, but don&#;t freak out &#; there&#;s no serious math involved.

The top number represents the weight of the thread, and the bottom tells you the ply, or how many strands are spun together. So, for example, a thread that is 40/3 has a weight of 40, and is 3 strands spun together for strength. See, you already have it mastered.&#;

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Now, Let&#;s Talk Thread Specifics.&#;..

Handing Quilting Thread&#;

You&#;ll notice that there are some threads labeled specifically for &#;quilting.&#; What they mean is &#;hand quilting.&#; Don&#;t be confused (cause I&#;ve definitely been there.) This thread has a special coating that makes hand sewing easier without the assistance of thread conditioner (Never heard of thread conditioner? It&#;s wonderful stuff for hand sewing. &#;&#;Click here for my favorite brand!)

Trust me, though, you don&#;t want to use this waxed thread in your sewing machine &#; very quickly you will start to hear clunk clunk CLUNK as your machine grinds to a halt and residual wax has coated your gears.&#;

You can see from my FAQ page that I reach for DMC Pearl Cotton No. 8 thread when hand quilting. Other brands and thread sizes for hand sewing reach about 30wt. Anything thinner than that and your stitches will be too small and delicate. Also you will run into your thread knotting easily and breaking.&#;

All-Purpose Piecing and Quilting Thread&#;

40wt and up to 50wt are favorite threads for machine quilting and all purpose sewing. If you want to think less about thread and more about your beautiful fabric stash, buy yourself some 40wt. thread and use it for all of your quilting needs. You&#;ll be fine.&#;

Appliqué Thread&#;

Like I said earlier, you can stick with classic 40wt. thread and be happy. However, if you are machine stitching appliqué pieces and want the stitches to be as subtle as possible, try 60wt. - 80wt. You may risk some breakage here, but you can use 60wt thread for quilting, piecing, appliqué, and embroidery.&#;

Cotton vs. Polyester vs. Silk - When to Use What&#;

There are key differences between these three types of thread that may make you want to keep all three on hand based on what kind of sewing you enjoy. For more specific info on cotton vs. poly thread, check out this post!

• Cotton Thread is both soft and strong. The lack of stretch in cotton thread makes it ideal for quilting projects because it won't lose its shape. Cotton also holds up under heat better than polyester thread, so if you&#;re a speed quilter who puts the petal to the metal, cotton will hold up under the heat of fast friction.&#;
• Polyester Thread has a little bit of stretch to it, so if you are planning to wear what you&#;re sewing, use polyester or nylon thread. Also, one major perk about poly thread is that it sheds less lint than cotton.
• Pure Silk Thread is really pretty, and really durable. Although it comes in a variety of weights, it&#;s very fine and elastic, so it&#;s great for things that are just as pretty as it is: like lingerie.

And Now&#; the Best Quality Sewing Thread According to Moi

• Aurifil: With exciting designer collaborations giving us beautiful color collections, Aurifil is definitely one of my favs. This Italian-made thread seems to be a bit more delicate than the others I mention, so you may want to sew a bit with it before choosing between 50wt. and 40wt. for your piecing.
• Mettler: This thread is famous for its long staple spools (that means they&#;re spun from super-long strands of cotton &#; making this thread very strong and and less prone to breakage.) Get back to the basics with some popular colors, and a smooth, silk finish with their 100% cotton thread. Or try out the more high-end pure silk thread for a special project.
• Gütermann: This is another brand I know I can count on to go the distance without breaking down&#; err&#; breaking in general. Go for low lint levels with this polyester&#;&#; spool or stick with their sturdy inexpensive cotton.
• Coats & Clark: Many crafters looking to dabbling with sewing will not visit a "bonafide quilt shop," but rather, their local Joann Fabrics &#; and that's totally fine because even if you only have access to Joann's you still have access to great thread. Enter Coats & Clark. If you&#;ve heard of thread, you&#;ve probably heard of Coats & Clark. I like C & C because it's cheap and I can always find the color I want.

I hope this two-part series helps to detangle the vast and sometimes confusing world of thread. Now that you know my go-to brands, what are your favorites? Comment below!

So, you&#;ve chosen your fabric and are ready to start stitching &#; but have you got the right thread? Choosing the right sewing thread can make a big difference to your finished projects.

In this guide, we'll show you how to pick the best thread for your sewing machine and latest project.

There are so many different varieties of sewing machine thread available that it can be tricky to choose the right one to use. It&#;s not just about finding a colour to match your fabric &#; you&#;ll need to consider other things, too, like the fabric&#;s thickness or stretch.

It&#;s worth taking the time to pick out the right thread, because it&#;ll really make a difference to the stitching experience and your finished project.

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Choosing your sewing thread

Alongside your sewing machine and your fabric, thread is one of the most essential parts of any project. It can be tempting to overlook thread and use a bad quality one or a spool that you&#;ve had in your stash for years, but using the correct thread for your project is important, as is using quality thread.

Many of us will select thread simply by searching for a colour to match our fabric. Although this is an important part of the process, understanding the different types of thread, their compositions, and their different uses is crucial to achieve a smooth stitch line.

Although an all-purpose polyester thread will work well on most material, the general rule is to use the same type of thread as the fabric. So, for example, if you&#;re sewing with 100% cotton material, use 100% cotton thread and match the thread weight to your fabric.

Sometimes your sewing pattern or instructions will give you advice on which type of thread you should use. If you can&#;t find an exact colour match, choose a thread one to two shades darker than the fabric, as light thread will stand out more.

If you do a lot of work that requires perfectly matched colours, some thread companies sell shade charts which can help you to select the right one for your project. You will also need to consider the stretch of your fabric and how thick it is when selecting a thread.

Sewing thread quality

One of the most important things when it comes to purchasing thread is selecting a spool that is good quality, ideally from a well-known brand.

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Poor quality thread that you can buy in packs can be appealing as they are often cheap and come in lots of colours; however, these threads can snap easily when threaded through your machine and cause birds&#; nests to form under your work. Quality thread isn't necessarily expensive, and if it saves hours of your time at the sewing machine then it's well worth the cost!

How to read a spool

The end of the thread spool lists the fibre content, the manufacturer and colour number (invaluable if you need to buy more thread later), and often its weight and the number of plies (strands) that are twisted together. This is usually listed with two numbers &#; the higher the first number, the finer the thread.

Finding the best sewing needle

Once you've chosen the right thread for the job, you'll also need to check that you're using the correct needle for best results. Find out everything you need to know in our sewing needle guide.

Types of sewing thread

There are several types of thread, which can be split into categories depending on what fibre they&#;re made from. Within these there are different strengths (number of plies) and thicknesses (weights).

Cotton thread

The best thread for your sewing machine when making: delicate projects

Cotton thread has very little stretch and is great for delicate projects, particularly for cotton fabrics or sheers, but not for stretchy fabrics. Most cotton thread is mercerised, which means it has gone through a series of chemical processes that increase the lustre of the thread and make it more water- and dye-absorbent. This means it&#;s less likely to run in the wash.

Polyester/nylon thread

The best thread for your sewing machine when making: any kind of sewing pattern!

These are strong threads that have some stretch. They often have a wax or silicone finish that allows the thread to slip through the fabric with little friction. This thread is also suitable for stretch fabrics such as synthetics and knits.

Cotton-wrapped polyester thread can be used with most fabrics, too. Note that if you plan to dye the garment, polyester thread will not take the dye, unless it is a dye designed for polyester.

Gütermann 100% polyester thread is an all-purpose thread that comes in a vast choice of colours and is widely available. You can use it for machine sewing as well as hand stitching, and it will work with most fabrics.

Jeans thread

The best thread for your sewing machine when making: any denim projects

This Gutermann denim thread is designed to match the colour of blue denim and is a polyester cotton blend. It can be used to darn jeans by hand and is also a great one to add to your collection if you regularly turn up jeans or work with denim fabrics.

Overlocking cones

The best thread for your sewing machine when making: large projects like quilting patterns!

These large cones can contain 2,000&#;5,000 metres of thread on a cone. They are designed for working on overlockers and industrial machines as they will need replacing less frequently than the smaller spools designed for domestic machines. If you are threading an overlocker you will need four cones of thread in the same colour (similar colours can also be used if your overlocked edges won&#;t be visible).

If you are trying to use an overlocker cone on your sewing machine you will find that it will be far too big for the spool holder. To counter this, insert a smaller spool of thread (a 1,000m/yd spool will be ideal) inside the larger end of the cone and it will allow the spool to fit snugly on the holder.

Metallic thread

The best thread for your sewing machine when making: sparkly garments for parties!

This Gütermann thread is made from metal (surprise!). These glitzy threads require a metallic needle as metallic needles have a larger eye which won&#;t be worn away by the metal in the thread. Sew slowly as these threads are very delicate and can break very easily.

Shirring elastic

The best thread for your sewing machine when making: garments which need elastic

Shirring elastic is used to create multiple lines of elasticated stitching that draw in an area, usually across the bust or waist of a garment. The elastic needs to be wound onto your bobbin by hand to prevent too much stretching.

Clear thread

The best thread for your sewing machine when: working with light fabric or mending.

Clear/invisible threads are 100% nylon and blend invisibly with your fabric and other threads. These threads are available in clear and black. The clear thread is best used with lighter fabrics, while the black is best used with darker fabrics to blend in better.

Choosing the right sewing machine thread is important

There's a lot to consider when you're choosing the right thread for any sewing project and that's particularly important when you're using a sewing machine.

There's more to consider than just matching the right colour to your fabric &#; you also need to think about your fabric thickness and its stretch.

Make crafting easier with a sewing machine table

Update your craft room by getting yourself a stylish new sewing machine table. Many sewing tables can also be used as desks if you're short of space.

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