Hi, I'm Sharmila and welcome to Lesson Number Two, Selecting the Thread.

Sewing the pieces of your project together is fun – it’s rewarding to see progress happening right before your eyes. Your thread is an equal partner with your fabric. You choose the thread color and type to complement your fabric. The right thread is strong enough to hold your fabric together, provide the right decorative accent, doesn’t break easily, and saves time in the long run. Let’s get started.

It’s helpful to know a little about the different types of sewing thread that are used in projects. Sewing thread is made up of 2 or more pieces of yarn, twisted together. It’s made to be resistant to breakage and stretching as it goes through the needle and the material you are sewing. Most of the time, you’ll use “all purpose” thread. It works with just about any type of material and is perfect for seams on many fabrics. Embroidery thread is great for decorative stitches on a piece of fabric, but don’t use it for seams – most types of embroidery thread are not the best for this purpose.

Stores also carry embroidery FLOSS. This is only meant for hand sewing. Upholstery thread is used for furniture fabric and some pillows. It comes in a variety of fibers and weights and is stronger and more durable than all purpose thread. It’s recommended to match the thread fiber to your fabric’s fiber, such as silk thread with silk fabric. Top stitching thread is a heavyduty thread. It’s slightly thicker than normal sewing thread, which helps outline areas like lapels, garment seams, purses and for sewing denim. How thread is wound onto the spool varies. This can be important with different sewing machines.

Straight-wound thread is spun around the spool so that the thread is parallel to the ends of the spool. Some spools are cross-wound in an “X” pattern. Either type of wound spool can work on a sewing machine with a vertical spike for holding the spool. But if you need to put the spool in horizontally, you’ll need to use thread that is X or Z spun so it feeds properly when you sew. Spools come in a variety of shapes. All of them work on our sewing machine. Click on each one to learn a little more. This spool shape is placed directly on the vertical thread holder. This spool is cross threaded and can work on both the vertical or horizontal thread holder.

Click on the movie icon to see how the thread winds off the spool. The large spool is designed for use with a Serger machine, but it works with standard sewing machine, too. You use a stand to hold the spool and pass the thread through the regular threading pattern. It will feed off perfectly.

Click on the video icon to see the serger in action. You have learned about different sewing thread and when to use them. Now, let’s practice matching the thread to the project. For each project or fabric shown, click on the best thread option. Good work on learning about thread types. This will get you started!