You Can't Afford Cheap Thread

This is a time economically where we're looking to cut corners. Is there a place having a sale? Going out of business? Something from a yard sale?

While lots of times that does the trick, there are times when you just can't afford to buy something cheap. Why? Not because it's inexpensive. Because it really is cheap. And it's cheap for a reason.

Sewing threads and fabrics are a case in point. The biggest expense, especially when you're a working person is your time. You don't have time to work with poor quality materials. And no material matters as much as your thread.

Your thread not only holds your quilt together, hopefully for it's whole lifetime. It also has to work and play well with your machine. The mechanism that stitches thread through your fabric pulls that thread in and out of the needle 50 times before that bit of thread lands in your fabric. Are you getting a bad stitch? A lot of bird's nests on the bottom? A lot of thread breakage? Skipped stitches? That can be the result of using substandard thread.

So what is a good thread? You're looking for several qualities. You want a great color range. If it's not pretty, why bother?
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But you also want strength. What makes thread strong?

• Mercerization: Mercerization is a process that makes thread stronger and more color fast. It's worthy.

• Cotton: You can use poly and poly core threads. But all quilters know that a cotton thread works better for piecing. Poly thread doesn't respond like cotton when it's washed. The difference in the fibers can cause puckering after. Not all cotton is the same either. Egyptian cotton spins down finer and makes a much stronger thread.

• Thread weight: You want thread to be strong, but you don't want it to be thick. It makes the seams lumpy  and can show through the top. Good piecing thread should be 50 weight.

• 3ply: Good sewing thread needs to be three ply to be strong enough to really hold things together. Do you really want to have to mend the seams after you wash your quilt the first time?

We chose to carry Presencia Threads at Threadbenders simply because it's the best piecing thread we could find. It's 50 weight three ply Egyptian cotton that will wash and wear well for the life of your quilt. And you were making a quilt that would last, weren't you?

About that old bag of thread you got from your mom's sewing room.....Thread gets old. It's not a bargain. If it breaks constantly it's really not helping you out. Start each quilt with a nice fresh spool of thread and spend your time happily piecing. Not wondering why your thread just broke.