[quote=Bennett]
Originally Posted by Phyllis nm
Originally Posted by Bennett
My sister called me and asked for a machine because she was wanting to use elastic bobbin thread for shirring, and her brand new machine had an automatic tension adjustment that wouldn't work with that.
Your sister can zig zag over a 1/8” elastic and secure the ends. Thread the elastic through a small straw or stir stick and tape it to the center of the needle to feed between the stitches. Even on modern machines you can adjust the bobbin tension to except the elastic thread. Just a suggestion.
Thanks, I'll copy this for her. I make quilts and do a little mending here and there. She's been bitten by the clothing bug though, so sometimes I'm at a loss on what advice to give her. :)
I've been keeping an eye on this post for suggestions, I had heard to wind the elastic you put it on put don't pull it through the tension you, feed it by hand? Anyone try that - i think that was what was written as the instructions to do it also. (Not sure that would work.) I've been wanting to try out the elastic thread in the bobbin with the gathering foot, so many of the baby clothes now have gathers and pin tucks and ruffles - all the stuff I can practice using my nifty VM attachments on. And my DD actually likes the style of clothes that makes use of these methods. She's shown me a couple at stores recently that she thought were cute (they were and I was thinking, I have this pattern at home) but she then said to look at the price! I used to sew my girls clothes when they were younger, even did smocking and stuff. One big thing I'm learning is matching threads and needle sizes to the materials I'm using. I used to do a lot of machine embroidery, so I'm finding I have a lot more machine embroidery thread than cotton or cotton/poly thread, and need to buy more covers for quilting and regular sewing.
Does anyone notice any of your machine having a preference to of one type/brand thread to another?