A Geek's approach to metallic thread in eight easy stages. Part 2: Needles

Sewing machine needles aren’t really very exciting things to look at.  At a show like Festival of Quilts the customers aren’t 10 deep to buy needles.  Needles are usually sold in little packets which on first sight can all look the same. However they are the first thing that I look at when trouble shooting a problem with stitch out.  My best top tip in problem solving is to change the needle for a new one.  Hang on to the old one and if that isn’t the problem then you can always swap it back. Some say you should change your needle every time you start a new project. Schmetz recommend you change your needle every 8 hours.  Now you might think ‘Well they would say that, wouldn’t they’ but I have found that as soon as I start to have frequent thread breakage I will change the needle and frequently that will solve the issue.
I will not use a needle unless it’s a Schmetz or an Inspira one; I am sure there are other good brands, its just I know these needles work for me.  I know how to get them; I think they are well priced; they get me good results.

So lets talk a bit about the engineering and whats going on with a sewing machine needle.  A sewing machine needle has a shank (the bit that goes into the needle holder on the machine) and blade that ends in the point where the eye is.  The blade has a long grove that allows the thread to reach the eye and a scarf (flat bit)  at the back to help it pass through. Whilst the shank is standard, the blade, tip and eye are all variable.  Choosing the ‘right’ needle is like Goldilocks….you want it to make a hole that allows the thread to pass through but small enough that the hole is visible.  I personally try and go with and a solid heavy weight needle of about 14/90 although I’ve been using 12/80s lately.

But in my humble opinion it’s the eye of the needle that is key to working with metallic….so unsurprisingly I use a metallic needle.  The eye is much longer than the eye in standard needle and therefore the thread is not put under the same pressures.  I find this longer eye reduces shredding and breakages with any kind of delicate or fussy thread and I use them as standard now in my embroidery machines no matter what thread I am using.  The only time I dont anymore is if I need a jersey or a ballpoint needle because of the fabric I am working on.  I don’t find that they break more (although I have heard that they can be a little less robust than say a denim or topstitch needle).

And of course I have a pile of used, slightly dull metallic needles that aren’t blunt so I then wear them out on my conventional machine doing day to day sewing; think of it like the dressage horse handing its old competition saddle down to the Lord of the manor's horse.

A Geek's approach to metallic thread in eight easy stages Part 1 Thread

 

People get freaked out trying to embroider with metallic thread.  And understandably so…it shreds, it breaks, it nests more than ‘standard’ thread.  But once you get your head around some basic principle of working with the ‘metal stuff’ then you can get fantastic results with a few cautionary steps.  In this series of 8 fortnightly blog posts I’ll give you the tips I use to get great results from working with metallic thread.  Now I will talk specifically about digital embroidery but the principles are the same what ever machine you use be it a standard sewing machine doing inbuilt stitches or a long arm quilter doing free motion work.

I often think of digital embroidery and regular sewing machines like 19^th Century horses which is hilarious as I am one of the most un-equine people on the planet. Your basic sewing machines are like pit ponies; basic workhorses that can labour away on a task without much fuss or fills; a good mid-range sewing machine like the lord of the manor’s hunter; solid, reliable, good looking.  You can go up the hierarchy of machines until you reach digital embroidery machines.  I think of them like dressage horses, beautiful specialist animals that do the most amazing things that can take your breath away.  And just like with horses you need to treat in a special way; they can be particular or indeed fussy about what you put in them, refusing to perform unless they have high quality ‘feed’ and handling.  Don’t expect to drive your delicate embroidery machine the same way you can your pit pony sewing machine!

Number 1 Quality of thread

My first rule of digital embroidery is always quality needles and thread.  My first proper experience of digital embroidery back in 2007 was a painfully slow with constant shredding and breaking (every 30 seconds) and once I realized that it was to do with cheap unbranded machine needles and manky old thread that had been kicking around for years my work transformed.
For metallics I use branded thread like Madeira.  Their FS40 has been my go-to thread since the mid-1990s and I don’t think I have ever been without Gold 4 since 1986.  If you are looking for a cheaper option, I have had good results with the CR40 range; it’s got good colours in addition to the standard metal colours BUT I personally feel its thinner than the FS40 and have had issues with pattern fill blocks appearing slightly transparent.  I’ll talk through ways to solve that another time.  I use the Sulky metallics when I can get them but I burn through big reels and its often an issue of getting hold of them in quantity.  I have used other brands including some dodgy chinese brands with mixed results.

I’ll also talk about alternative metallic threads like lurexes and hologram sliver threads in episode 8 of this series

Think about how old your thread is?  Thread will deteriorate with age and if its left in sunlight.  It becomes brittle and frankly only good for embellishing machines! I have had branded thread snap all the time when it has been left on a window sill.  If your embroidery is shredding and snapping ask yourself is the thread a problem?  Can you run through your design with a standard rayon on a similar fabric no problem? Does the thread snap more easily if you pull it between your fingers.  These might indicate that you have a problem with your thread.
For a while I took a hard line that I wouldn’t use anything with an unfamiliar brand that I had bought on a market stall. That unfair on market stall holders but as a rule I would always say proceed with caution; only buy small quantities until you have tested the quality.  In fact I have had some good results with cheap metallics if I was careful with some of my other stages in stitch out.  Also be aware that you might not be able to get EXACTLY the right colour again if you run out on a project halfway through. 
If you are new to digital embroidery invest in some good quality threads.  You don’t want to be frustrated by thread that will easily shred and snap.