ctack2

I was just reading on http://dontlooknow.typepad.com/dont_look_now/ and found this little tip about applique that I don't remember ever seeing before:

"Do you sometimes have problems with your thread knotting up and becoming tangled while you are stitching? It may just be because you have threaded your needle with the wrong end of your thread!!! If you are left handed, like I am, you should thread your needle using the end that you cut ...not the end that comes off your cotton reel! If you are right handed you should thread your needle with the end that comes directly off your cotton reel. "

Now if only I can remember this!

Carol B

noahscats7

I did know that you should tie the knot in the end that comes off your spool first. And it works.

ghostrider

Yup, learned that more than 50 years ago. Works every time.

Tartan

I am right handed and I always put the end from the spool through the eye but sometimes it knots anyways. I think it's because I like loooong thread. I do love the quilter's knot though. Once your needle is threaded, you grasp the loose end and with the tail between your fingers, wrap it twice around the needle. Hold the wrap and pull it down the thread to have the knot appear at the end of your thread. I think it was Georgia Bonesteel (sp) that shared that tip?

crafty pat

Yes I do that, but still get knots sometimes unless I use bee's wax.

MadQuilter

Yes I did know that. I am very careful to put the end that comes off the spool through the needle - usually I do that before I cut the thread. Then I make the knot where you bring the thread around, wrap it around the needle a few times and pull it down the thread. It makes such a neat knot. Then I slide the thread through my fingers from needle to end. Sometime during the sewing process, I let the needle dangle for the thread to untangle. That seems to help prevent knots for the most part.

QuiltnNan

i've been doing it so long, it is a habit. i had heard that tip years ago. thanks for sharing it.

ncredbird

I did know about the method if you are right handed and never gave a thought to reversing if you are left handed. Interesting! I will sometimes put several needles onto the thread while still on the spool and then just slide them back as I take them off one at a time with the desired amount of thread. That way I don't have to worry about forgetting which end of the thread to put through the eye. Ann in TN

callie

I did not know that - thanks for sharing.

BellaBoo

With the newer brand threads this isn't an issue any more. The manufacturing process has changed. I still thread from the spool for all hand sewing, just a habit.