Specifically, Coats and Clark Dual Duty XP. Has anyone tried it? I’ve heard positive comments about it and would like to try something new. I’ve become disenchanted with Guttermann’s; it seems like over the last year its become very linty and frays more. I used to use Mettler Metrosene, but can’t really get that locally.
This has probably been talked about before, but what is your favorite? What gives the best performance, best quality?
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I've never been a one-size-thread fits all gal, and have recently rediscovered C&C thread. It was thread to be shunned when I was a quilter, but since it has been reformulated, I do like it for garment sewing. All threads are linty to some degree, even polyesters, but this is a decent thread and the range of colors is great.
I have seen a new C&C thread that I tried and it was OK. Guterman has recently reformulated their thread, the new MARA line is much better than the prior stuff. With Guterman you had to watch for the stuff made in Mexico (most of it) was not as good as the stuff made in Germany. That being said, I love the Metrosene brand of thread and will always use that unless I REALLY need a specific color match and then will use whatever I can get in the right color.The problem with C&C is it is cotton core wrapped with poly (or vice versa?) I like the plain poly thread.When sewing light weight fabrics like silk charmeuse, I will use the Metler machine embroidery thread, it is a very lightweight cotton thread. I also like the Gutterman silk thread for doing some hand work such as hand picked zippers. On many fabrics, this thread (while not as strong as many other silk threads or poly threads) will just melt into the fabric.For hand basting, I use the metler fine machine embroidery again
I'm glad to see the threads you use. Have you noticed any fading with the cotton embroidery thread you use for silk charmeuse and similar fabrics?C&C has apparently changed their Dual Duty Plus thread from cotton-wrapped to all polyester.
I haven't noticed any color change, but then I don't keep the garments, they go off to clients so I couldn't say. I have used it to do some machine embroidery - cross stitch items and they seem to be fine.I really like the fine cotton for hand basting because it will tear apart when pulling it out - if it is stitched over on the machine, and I yank on it, it won't pull the machine stitching, it just pulls apart (I hope I'm making sense there).
I picked up a spool of the XP but haven't tried it yet. It is poly wrapped poly. I found a spool of the All Purpose which is cotton wrapped poly, and it seems to work fine, and it doesn't curl when hand sewing.
Time will tell, I guess.
I began hand sewing (upholstery fabrics) small 2" - 3" collectibles in 1990, at 20 sts per inch, with a tight back stitch and needed a thread that would hold up the the repeated abrasion that this continuos sewing applied to the thread, especially where it bent over the eye of the needle. That area's always the most vulnerable and is where the fraying begins on hand-sewn thread. I was fortunate to already have spools of glowing shades of Mettler's Metrosene Plus in my arsenal; the glow came from the reflected light off the very tight twist. My spools had all been produced in Switzerland. About 5 years into my new business, I noticed a difference in the hues - they looked a bit more fuzzy by comparison with my older spools. The sales clerk told me that the company had been sold and the thread was now being produced in Germany. Not only that but that Gutermann's, of Germany, was now being produced in Mexico. The quality of both of these 100% polyester threads has suffered greatly: I still haunt eBay searching for Mettler's Metrosene Plus spools that say 'Swiss Made', as they're top quality, to the point that, as the thread enters and exits the needle's eye, it most often doesn't take on a bend at that point and I end up pulling the needle off the thread more often than not, simply because it never 'seated' itself into a groove or bend in the thread.Cotton-wrapped polyester is awful stuff: it doesn't match the quality of cotton OR poly when cleaning or pressing, and machine sewing is so abrasive to the cotton covering...All things change, every company is always looking at their Bottom Line, and I will try the new MARA thread... but still keep my eyes peeled for Swiss-Made Metrosene Plus!
Thanks for sharing this information, I've been having to clean my machines like a maniac lately, thought maybe it was old thread and bought more...same issues with excess lint and lack of strength, humph! It's a shame we can't depend on the brand names we've counted on for decades! The search begins....Mary
I'm really just trying to pass this link on. My dealer sent it to me when I was trying to find thread color charts. Theres a lot on this site. http://www.checkerdist.com. Have you heard of this? Sue
Thanks, but that site seems to be wholesale only.
Aha! I didn't spend enough time on my first visit to this cool website! Thank You! So much interesting and useful information, even if I can't order from them. Wahoo!
Thanks for sharing this info! Mary
Edited 4/16/2009 12:45 am by MaryinColorado
I love you! Thank you Thank you Thank you! I have been researching a site like this forever! Now I can compare charts and decide before I hit the stores what is a possible thread match and do a quick run that saves me a huge amount of time and frustration. I can decide ahead of time whether the local store (C&C) or a run to town(Gutermann, my preferred) is the best bet! Thanks again, Cathy
I avoided C&C because my Bernina hated it, it snarled and ate it rather than sewed with it. It preferred the Gutterman which is widely available. I had to resort to it for the curtains I am currently sewing, as it was the only closeish match to the odd coloured sheer. I am using my new to me Singer featherweight machine also. Verdict: LINTY. Otherwise, the machine sewed beautifully with it, the stitches worked nice and even, and I had no problem, other than having to dust away the dusty lint frequently. I am going to try it on my Bernina 930 just to see next. Will report back. Cathy
>>>I avoided C&C because my Bernina hated it,<<<I think I've posted this before, but it reminds me of my $1,500.00 spool of thread story.To make a long story as short as possible, I was using a new spool of C&C black thread while working on a quilt, the machine tension started to royaly mess up, I thought I could 'clean' the tension and pulled the little screw out (this was a 20 yo sears Kenmore machine that I got when I was in high school) well, out sprang a million little pieces from the tension discs, I couldn't put it back together and the next day bought a Bernina (about $1500.00) - I had been planning on doing this but not quite so soon. So, I took my brand spanking new Bernina 1530 home, popped in the spool of black thread, and you guessed it, the tension was just awful. I had BAD THREAD. There was nothing wrong with the tension in my old machine. I learned a lot about thread in the guide class for the Bernina, especially black thread which has to be over dyed several times to get the right black color. Thus it can be 'sticky'
I'm glad you posted that about the black thread as I have wondered about it. I just finished sewing some black pants and had trouble with the black thread. It seemed to feel different but I thought maybe I was imagining it. I used both Mettler and C&C XP.
Tee hee hee, as you can see, my Bernina and I have a real relationship! Thread and thread quality, even spool to spool make such a difference in stitch quality. I often tweak my stitches, and sew out a sample, even between thread spools. Even with an automatic tension, I adjust mine slightly to get better stitches. Thanks for the heads up about the black! Explains a lot with the natural fiber threads! Cathy
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