[isewstuff]

I’ve been sewing for a long time, but am still confused by which thread to use. Everyone I’ve talked to seems to have an opinion on thread type/brand, so I’m curious as to what the Oliver + S sewists think? I realize that the thread type should be suited to the specific project, but I would like your input. The interfacing topic was so insightful, I never knew you could prewash interfacing!

[sayiamyou]

I usually use cotton thread. When we bought my Bernina they suggested I always use Metler brand, but I actually prefer Gutermann. I think it gets less fuzzy in my machine than the Metler.

[mela]

I guess it is one of those things that everyone has a preference for, for different reasons. I use the poly thread. Gutermann is one brand, and now Coats and Clark is all poly, instead of the cotton-wrapped poly they used to have. I thought cotton was good until I heard from a Bernina dealer (sounds like we talked to a different dealer, Maraya) that the cotton lints-up your sewing machine and poly is better. eesh, all I know is Gutterman doesn’t break and comes in pretty colors and I stock up when Joanns has 50% off thread sales.

[Justine J]

I’ve been wondering about this too – I usually try to use 100% cotton (Gutermann) but do have some poly cottons in my box as you can get a better range of colours. Lately though I’ve really tried to only buy cotton, since I only sew with cotton.

[sayiamyou]

Gutermann does have a great color selection! That’s definitely another reason I love it so much, I can always find the color I’m looking for, even if it’s odd. I should add that I do use the poly too, but most often I pick up cotton. The Metler brand has cotton and poly.

[sayiamyou]

Gutermann does have a great color selection! That’s definitely another reason I love it so much, I can always find the color I’m looking for, even if it’s odd. I should add that I do use the poly too, but most often I pick up cotton. The Metler brand has cotton and poly.

[Nicole]

I use Rasant thread , it is excellent strong thread, nice big spools and the colour choice is amazing!

I purchased a thread chart from Rosie @ sewingselections.com , in Dubbo , it was $7. I match my thread to cloth , send an email and she gets it for me.

I used to use Mettler and Gutermann , but found this as good if not better and the spools are twice the size for the same cost

[isewstuff]

Okay, good to know. Thanks everyone! My Bernina dealer also suggested Mettler, but I assumed that was because it is the brand they stock, and it can’t be found anywhere else around here. The small fabric store nearest to my home carries only Gutermann cotton and in a limited amount of colors, and the sales people there claim it’s the only thread I should be using. In all honesty, I have a little bit of everything in my drawer and color matching often wins over fiber content for me. I was just curious if I really needed to feel badly for occasionally using polyester thread.

[Emily]

I wouldn’t worry about using polyester thread, but do stay away from the cheap “bargain bin” thread. There are some great super-magnified pictures of thread at this link: http://sewing.about.com/library/weekly/aa102100a.htm

Using the cheap stuff will just cost you more in machine maintenance in the long run.

I use either Gutterman sew-all (poly) or the all-natural (cotton) and have great results with both. The people who fix my machine (CH Holderby in Seattle – AMAZING) were adamant that I use high quality thread so as to prevent damage to my vintage machine.

[Justine J]

Thanks for the tip, Nicole! Think I will look up your supplier 🙂

[Rpankow]

Emily, thanks for the great link! It’s really interesting to see the difference. Now I know why my mother preached good tread all these years. Joanns and Hancock are great places to get thread 50% off. I stock up in all sorts of colors, even if I don’t need them at the moment when it’s on sale since I have to drive at least 1 hr one way to get to my nearest stores.