Quilting Notions:

Tools or Toys? 

Part 3 of 4

7. The Seam Ripper.

Indispensable little tool, yes tool.  You can do so much with it!  Poke the kids when they bother you, poke your spouse when he / she snores at night and even un-sew those nasty extra stitches put there by your sewing machine!  This tool can even do the work of the stiletto if your stiletto falls off your table.  (That never happens, so don’t worry about that)

All kidding aside, this is a handy little tool.  Picks out the stitches that will let your piece block lay flat, removes extra stitches to the quarter inch mark to allow you to do those pesky Y seams and even undoes your mistakes (but you will never use it for that because as we both know, we never make mistakes, just creative choices!)

 # 7 the all purpose seam ripper. 

It comes in all shapes and sizes. 

So handy in fact, they include one with your sewing machine for free! 

You can pick them up for .99 cents or you can get one in gold plated brass and impress your friends and family!  They come with or without covers, but you should get one with a cover because it will poke you when you are searching for it in the bottom of your ever growing sewing basket just to remind you how useful Band-Aids are in your sewing box!

8. Needles and Thread

This or should I say these notions go together like bread and butter, but are as different as oil and water!  Let’s start with thread as it s the easier subject. 

For quilting it is easy, use a good quality, 100% cotton thread.  Not cotton wrapped polyester thread.  You want your thread to be as strong as the fabric that you sew it into, but not so strong that over time and with use, will cut though the fibers of the fabric. 

There are many threads on the market from the .99 cent bin at the .99 cent store to the quilt shop quality that sells upwards to $10.99 a spool!  There are only 4 types of thread (not including specialty threads like silk and metallic) that these threads are made out of.  Cotton, Polyester, Cotton wrapped polyester and Rayon. 

 I could do a whole other guide just on threads alone, but for now, here are the highlights.

Cotton thread should be of good quality, long staple fibers. 

You’re saying “what is a long stable fiber?” 

 Ok, simple, remember this one fact, the cheaper the thread the shorter the stable fiber and the poorer the quality.  Coats and Clark make a good middle of the road, affordable cotton thread and is very usable in most machines. 

My choice is Gutterman, a little more expensive, but still affordable and found in most chain fabric stores, where I hate to admit, I spend too much time and money!  But I digress….  Thread found in quilt shops is even better quality and is even more expensive, but for my quilts that get used and abused every day, Gutterman is just fine for me.  Again PP

Polyester.. Yuck!  100% chemically made, nothing natural about it at all.  Only good thing is that the color is mixed in with the chemicals so it can not fade or ware off.  Stay away from polyester thread unless you are doing decorative embroidery and want the design to say that color for ever or it will be on the knees of your kids pants.

Cotton wrapped polyester… not much better!  This is where they take the polyester thread and then wrap the cotton around the polyester forming a ‘core’ of sorts.  Still as strong as polyester, but easier on the fabrics.  Used mostly in garment construction where you need a stronger thread, not for quilts that you want to last for a long time, this and polyester thread will ‘saw’ through the cotton fibers as the quilt is used and cause the seams to latterly fall apart in time.

Rayon.  Rayon is 50% wood fibers and 50% chemical.  It is used mostly for decorative embroidery threads.  It does have a tendency to fade and not keep its color and will bleach to white.  It is not strong enough for garment or quilt sewing.

Ok, enough about thread, simple put, don’t by cheep, you don’t need to buy expensive but you do need 100% cotton for quilting. 

Thread weight should be 40 on the top and 50 in the bobbin and for doing machine quilting, is should be of 35 weight.  You don’t need to pay attention to the thread weight on the shelf.  Most all will be 40 weight and if it is not, it will be clearly marked.  40 is the most common weight. 

Keep this fact in mind as you learn about needles. 

Thread numbering goes - the higher the number the finer the thread. 

 60 would be very fine, almost silk thread

Needle numbering goes – the higher the number the larger the needle.

100/16 is a jeans needle and is very large often referred to as ‘a spike needle’.

Needles, hummm, that last statement about says it all, any questions?  Yes?  Ok then, let’s talk about needles, and these are the needles that go into your sewing machine not for hand work.

The most common needle is the Universal 80/12 needle. 

It is that all purpose good guy of the needle family.  He will sew though almost any and all fabrics from the finest silks to as many denim layers will fit under your presser foot!  (don’t try this unless you know your machine can handle this much fabric, you may throw out your trimming if you do this, check with your dealer to see if your machine is able to handle this thickness before trying this test)

There are as many needles on the market as rulers and scissors, but only a few are necessary for successful quilting.  The universal 80/12 we have already talked about is the perfect needle for paper piecing and going through several layers of fabric in a fabric sandwich, but my favorite needle for quilting is the Quilting 75/11 needle.  Still as sharp as the universal needle, but slightly smaller shank and a little larger eye. 

What’s a shank?  That is the part from the flat end that you clamp into your machine to the eye of the needle, it determines the size of the hole that the thread can pass through to make the stitch, the finer the hole, the less damage to the fabric and the stronger the seam.

All that reviled, there are good quality needles and bad quality needles just like thread.  A good brand and one that is recommended for most of the new machines on the market is the Schmetz brand.  It is strong and stays sharp.  Cheep needles are just that, cheep!  They may have burs on the ends, burs on the eyes or be dull out of the package.  Check with your machines manual to see what is recommended for your machine. 
Tools or Toys?  Tools!

9. Sewing machine.  Yes, your sewing machine.  Is it a tool or a toy? 

Most would say tool, but  . . .  how many sewing machines to do you have or have you had in your sewing life time? 

Me, ohhhh let me count. 1, 2, 3, 4,  - - -9 and I am just the average!  There are lots of ladies out there that are in the 15 to 20 mark! 

So what are you waiting for?  Go buy a machine or two!  What?  You say which one?  Do you have a week to discuss it?  No?  I didn’t think so.  Let me tell you what you need to know in a nutshell.

Let’s assume you are sitting down to sew for the 1st time ever.  Your going to make your 1st quilt, what the heck, it’s straight stitching, can’t be that hard to find a machine that does that simple task, can it?  (Oh sometimes I make myself laugh, but this isn’t one of them!)

I feel another guide coming on . . (later) 

All you need to know is this and only this.  It does not matter what brand you buy or how many features it has or how old it is.  Does it have a good straight stitch?  Is it easy to use?  Are you comfortable with it?  Then that is the machine for you!

All that said, you can go and get the fanciest machine on the market.  It can make your coffee in the morning, but can you turn it on?  If the answer is no, then you might think of a simpler machine. 

There are great used machines that do a beautiful stitch and won’t cost you an arm and a leg and then there is the weight issue.  Are you going to be moving it from spot to spot and how much can you comfortably lift?  How much do you want to spend? 

There are several straight stitch only machines on the market but they are near or over the $1000.00 mark and are specialty machines.  Do you want electronic or mechanical?  Stop already!  We get the picture (I hope) that machines are strictly at Personal Preference! 

The only requirement is that they sew a straight stitch and are in good working order before you start your project.

Where does the tool and toy come into this you ask?  Read up a couple of paragraphs!  How many sewing machines can one person have without one or more being considered a toy! 

 So Sewing machine falls neatly into both category’s at the same time, cute huh?

Please rate this part before moving on to the nex one, thx!

Please contiune to the 4th and final part. . .