Saturday, August 19, 2006

Thread Notes

I think garment sewers break into two catagories when it comes to thread. We either collect basic colors and use them in all of our projects or we are obsessed with owning thread in every color under the sun and must change it for each and every project.

I know that there are people who are perfectly happy using shades of gray, black or white in their sergers when working on garments. I guess they believe that it is something that is not seen from the outside so it is not really necessary to change the thread or have the thread match every project exactly.

Then there are people like me...who are obsessive about the color of thread they are using in a project. Not only must the thread match, and only if necessary, coordinate with the base fabric but the serger thread must match too! Not only does this require more purchasing and storage solutions but it also means that before I can start any project I must find just the right thread color. Now how does this work with my "Just sew it!" philosophy, you ask? Well, it means that I buy a lot of thread! *LOL*

I am constantly on the lookout for thread and thread bargains. Let me assure you right now that I am not looking for cheap thread ~ my machines would turn their noses up at me and laugh if I tried to thread them with cheap thread ~ no, I mean great bargains on quality thread. And I have alot of it. I have to! I have to be ready to sew anything whenever I want to! And I absolutely abhor having to stop working on a project to pick up thread or a notion that I don't have in my collection.


That is one of the reasons why I plan so much. Planning affords me the opportunity to gather the necessary thread & notion choices ~ if not presently in my collection ~ and have the goods ready and at my disposal when I am ready to create.

So what brings up this topic today? The sewing gods are once again smiling on me and I am sewing. Please let's just stop here for a moment of reverence for the sewing gods

...one mississippi (pause)

...two mississippi (pause)

...okay enough of that ~ back to the regularly scheduled sewing thoughts, and I have done the unthinkable. I didn't change my serger thread for the skirt I am making. I am too afraid that if I stop, I won't start again. And I hate to change serger thread! Ssshhh that was a secret! So for my bright blue printed skirt, the seams will be serged with black thread and stitched with black thread. Ah, the heresy of it, but there it is! And my reasoning ~ the skirt is lined and you will never see the thread.

So I guess sometimes I break my own rules too?! *LOL*
BTW, which are you? Are you or aren't you thread obsessed?

7 comments:

  1. Yes. Absolutely. To the point where all the threads in those organizers boxes is sort by type and then arranged by order of the spectrum for each type, with the neutrals coming first.

    Oh yeah, and you'd think with almost 300 spools of thread that I'd have the right color for the current project? Noooooooooooo! So, off I go to buy *another * spool of thread!

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  2. Oh yes, the thread has to match the fabric. Always, unless I am after a definite contrast. As for the serger thread, I very much prefer a match, but serger thread comes in a more limited range of colors as compared to conventional sewing thread. Frequently I will blend old sewing thread to come up with an acceptable match for the serger, even though I will probably be the only person who will ever see the inside of the garment.

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  3. Oh yes, I definitely am thread-obsessed! The last time JoAnn's had a thread sale I bought an entire shopping cart full of Maxi-Lock and Gutermann. And..my friend gives me 40% off Metrosene at his shop. So you KNOW I'm a thread hoarder! Must be prepared for sewing at all times, right? ;-)

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  4. I'm glas to see that I have company in collecting matching threads. I think that I have enough serger thread to match my fabric for a while. I try to sew garments in a batch that match my serger thread so I don't have to keep re-threading the machine.

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  5. i am totally thread obssessed. serger thread has to match. sometimes i'm lazy and don't want to change thread, so then i do french or flat felled seams.

    if i don't match the thread, it bothers me enough that i rarely wear the garment.

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  6. I'll chime in for the sanguines of the world.

    Matching thread...the left needle on the serger, and topstitching. Other than that, meh. Projects have gone on hold while awaiting a spool of Metrosene in the right color, but rarely will a project wait for serger thread. The day I bought my serger I also bought the (now out of print) Sewing with an Overlock book from the Singer Reference Library. One page shows a whole spectrum of fabric colors, all overlocked with one of three shades of thread...grey, rose pink and ivory. Amazing how well they blended. I took that to heart and use those colors for a lot of my serging. However, I do sew enough white, black and navy blue that I keep four cones of those handy, too. And the teal thread that came with the serger is remarkably 'blendable'...it's worked better than the grey for some colors, so I've used it, too.

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  7. I like to have matching or complementary thread, but I hate to buy a whole cone (let alone 3) of a color I may only use a couple of times. Nancy's notions came to the resuce with a gadget that holds a number of bobbins that attaches to your serger. I just got mine, but haven't tried it yet. It looks like it will work great>

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