Whatever works, huh Myrtle? :) I started sewing on a Singer years and years ago. It was my first machine and I loved it! I sewed on it until it died. I took it to the only shop in town and he couldn't fix it. He was a Janome dealer and so began my love affair with Janome's. But I always loved my Singer. Somehow I ended up with a Brother in there somewhere but my sister has it now. I think we can sew on anything really. Where there's a will there's a way!

Who knew? Left twist! Enjoy your new machine

Left twist thread is sewing machine thread. Type in left twist thread on google and you will quickly get a whole explanation of the difference between left and right twist thread.

How awful someone would trash your machine! As a wool spinner, I can tell you there are 2 types of twist: s twist and z twist. For spinning wool, s twist is spun in the same direction. If you make 2 ply yarn, you would take 2 spools of s twist and spin them in the opposite direction as the they were spun the first time, making them a z twist. With yarn you can look closely and tell if they are lying like an S or a Z. All machine thread is spun the same direction, as far as I know. But a friend of mine purchased a new machine only to find it did not like the YLI thread she was using. Once she changed thread, it worked fine. I would suggest trying different threads until you find the one your machine likes best and whatever that thread is, stick with it. Make your machine happy and you will be happy also :) Enjoy your new machine and happy sewing. Lena

At one time, Metrosene thread had a left twist to it, but after so many complaints, I understand that the company reversed the twist. Now as to your thread knotting up on you, make sure that you thread your needle with the end of the thread that comes off the spool. Also, you can run your thread through Thread Heaven or beeswax which helps it to stay straight. You probably should thread several needles at a time to insure that you always thread them as the thread reels off the spool. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I never knew there was soooo much to know about thread. I am going to bookmark this thread...thanks [quote=Scissor Queen]I did a search and found this really helpful page. It looks like all machine thread is left twist.

Love the YLI booklet. Some stuff I never heard before.
Don't let ANYONE poop in your Wheaties! :lol:
Everyone is different. That's why there are so many machines out there. Honestly. I have a Bernina 440, which I am happy to have, but I also have a Brother Machine to take to class, and there are some features on it I like better.
To each his own. :thumbup:

How do you know which threads are for hand sewing? I generally use the same threads for both machine and hand work.

That is an excellent website with a great article.. I don't think left and right twist is something we generally have to worry too much about, but when you happen to have a spool of "S" twist rather than "Z" twist it can curl up on itself and cause you to have broken threads. Always a bummer when you're stitching away happy as can be. I have turned the spool over, putting the end that was on the bottom on top and that eliminated the problem at times.. I also think the rule of thumb is that stacked spoola should be put on the spool holder and the tread unwound off the side.. while with cross wound spools the thread should come off the end..

When you're hand sewing or quilting and the thread keeps knotting or twisting and seems hard to work with.. Try cutting the thread and re-threading the needle with the other end of the thread.. Thread likes to go one way and will balk at being used in the wrong direction.

Interesting topic, hopefully some problems will go away with the information here.

I went to the YLI corp site and found this wonderful article on thread. Go to the 2nd page on the right hand column and read the Twist and Twist Direction explanations. The whole document is very informative, and good to save for further reference material.


http://www.ylicorp.com/pdf/tot-brochure.pdf

Hope this helps.