Piecing with fine polyester thread
 

Ive been working on a quilt with 1 1/2” finished half square triangles that make up a 12 1/2” block. It really is a pretty, sparkly block but all those seams were so bulky I just had to press each one open and carefully pin to match seams. Slowing down has helped as well, but my accuracy really improved when I replaced my 50wt cotton thread with 80wt polyester. Now my blocks are turning out almost a perfect 12 1/2”. Of course I’ve heard the horror stories about the abrasive nature of polyester on cotton fibers and I’m sure they are true. Im also sure some of you experts out there have done what I’ve done to get that perfect sparkly look you were after. So do you have any advice as to how I should quilt and treat the resulting finished piece. (It will be about 70” x 80”). Thanks

There are many new threads available now that wasn't around a decade ago. Here is the myth busted about poly and fabric:

https://www.superiorthreads.com/educ...fsNE%3D.wEgjkJ

Everything you need to know about thread, needles, tension, and bobbins is here:
https://www.superiorthreads.com/education

I gave away all my poly threads and regretted it quickly. even all my Christmas colors. sad but true. I mostly still buy only cotton though these days.

I frequently stitch with a polyester thread and haven't had any problems. I don't wash my quilts any more than I have to.

A lot of quilting with a curving design, will stabilize the blocks with all those seams and will help your quilt last a long time. If the seams can move and the polyester thread can saw at the cotton fabrics, then it is likely that you will eventually have fabric failure. I have had fabric failure with a 40 wt cotton thread. It has been washed 20 or 30 times and the quilting was more sparse than I have learned to do. Do not quilt in the ditch as straight line stitching. Do some type of curving pattern that will support the 3 elements staying better without placing stress on any single parts.

fyi....For my first quilt I did a minimum of quilting as per the batting suggested spacing and did them as straight lines. As I pulled the quilt up the first night of use, I heard seams popping and quickly realized the error of my ways. I added some curvy seams and tried pulling the quilt up again. I didn't hear those angry seams popping and quickly learned a very important lesson. Seams stitched as straight have more stress when pulled than curving seams.

The more I educated myself about fabric, batting, stitching, and thread I have learned many of the quilting truths I have been told are not true or just plain silly.

I use poly thread almost exclusively for piecing as well as a lot of quilting. Recently I started using 100wt poly in the bobbin. I like the Superior brands.

Why do you assume they are true? They are not. I figure it was somebody trying to sell cotton thread that started that old wives tale. 🙄

Agree 100%.

While there are threads I will not use with cottons, the modern threads like So Fine were designed with cotton in mind.

When I started quilting, way back before there were rotary cutters, there were still quilt police. The going adage was "cotton only" but I was very happy with Dual Duty, which was cotton wrapped poly. We weren't all that sure about storing fabric in plastic containers or bags either, but after 50 years I'm no longer so worried about that either...

I can tell you my early quilts from the 70s went through a lot of hard use and machine washing, and the Dual Duty thread was never a problem. The problem was I didn't quilt closely enough and the unquilted areas rotted away, leaving the seams and the in the ditch quilting strongly holding together the threads.

Well.... My 2 wedding quilts from 1984 were both sewn with polyester thread, and it cut through the fabric at the seams, in less than 10 years.

Also, if you're pressing with a cotton setting on your iron, I think it would melt the polyester. Check where the polyester setting is on your iron, compared to where the cotton setting is on your iron. I know if I let my iron tough minky for very long, it will melt it.

I have a couple friends who have used Maxilock serger thread and have pressed it using a cotton setting on their iron, and they lifted up the block and pulled on it, and the thread had indeed melted. The block fell apart.

Sorry, I don't follow what everyone else says, I use my own experience and knowledge. I choose to use cotton thread to piece cotton fabrics.

I use polyester thread all the time and my quilts hold up quite nicely for years. The baby quilts get washed a lot and there has been no damage. I use Bottom Line (30 wt.) in my bobbin and So Fine (40 wt.) in the needle when I am piecing and my blocks go together so much better. I also use polyester when I machine quilt.

Absolutely. I also think that polyester thread from several years ago and the quality polyester thread made now are two different animals. I love 100 wt wonderfil and Superior microquilter ( using the correct size needle) for piecing and quilting. It’s great for SITD as it melts into the seam and I can’t tell where I didn’t stay in the ditch. I have used it for an edge to edge design when I wanted the piecing to be the star. It doesn’t cut my fabric.

I think we all tend to stick to what has worked for us but like onebyone said when we educate ourselves and learn about the myths it can open up a whole bunch of new things to try that might be even better than what we have been doing.

Thank you all for your responses to my question. I’m greatly comforted to know that these modern polyesters can be safely used. Quiltedsunshine, thank you so much for your warning. I will test my threads are compatible with the temperature setting I’ve chosen on my iron.

One by One thanks for the hyperlink to Superior Threads. I surfed right over there and gleaned a lot of great info. Such good advice.

I’m not a big poster online, but I have followed this board for some time now and have learned so much from all of you. I’m very grateful to have such a tremendous resource. Thanks again

Kindascrappy

The three quilts that I have used for over 15 years were sewn with cotton covered polyester Dual Duty thread - did not even know some of the brands listed existed at that time -

These quilts have been machine washed and dried - the bias cut bindings are very frayed - however - there has been absolutely no - none - "cutting of the fabric" from the threads on any of the stitching lines.

Two of the quilts were "stitched in the ditch" with additional straight line quilting and one was hand quilted. Again, no "cutting" or damage to the fabric at or near the stitching. ( I think using 20+ stitches to the inch when ditch stitching would/could be damaging - but I probably used 8-10 stitches per inch when quilting "in the ditch")

My experience with the "old" cotton covered polyester Coats & Clark Dual Duty thread has been very positive. There may be better ones available, but i see no reason to not use that thread if you happen to have a lot of it on hand.

I do recommend checking "any" thread for strength - once in a while one gets a "dud" that should not be used - or it may have been improperly stored and gotten weak and will break easily.

Does unused thread age? I inherited some regular ol' coats and clark that seemed so old that I was leary of sewing with it, so I did not.

I have been using poly threads for a couple years now. I love Superior threads and have been using Glide now without a problem. I find I have good movement with it and it holds well.

I also used polyester thread and thru the years have found no reason not to. I think once a quilt has been quilted, that stabilizes everything, especially if it has a lot of quilting.

I love thread topics because there is so much info/missinfo too that I never knew. Thanks, everyone!!

Definitely it will age and deteriorate. you can test the strength by taking off a bit and trying to break it. If it breaks easily, then it is too old and weak to use.

I wanted to mention about these modern threads like Glide and So Fine and concerns over heat -- I have none. I have old threads that sure enough did melt -- you even had to watch how hot they got in the drier!

I was happy with Dual Duty as I mentioned, until my friend got a long arm and that was when I first got into different threads for quilting. Her machine couldn't wind a decent bobbin and her Type M bobbin isn't standard around these parts so we started ordering from Superior.

Since then, I've been using it for quilting on my domestic too, and have finished about a year+ of using it as my bobbin thread for piecing, with aurifil cotton on top. Been very happy so far, I press every step of the way with a hot (all the way up to linen sometimes) iron and it doesn't bother the thread in anyway. You can press the iron directly to the thread on the spool (I avoided the actual plastic spool...). Recently I won an auction for a large number of So Fine spools, I'm going to try piecing with it top and bottom both. I already prefer a fairly small needle (10) and use little stitches, think I'll be very happy with it as a top thread.

Iceblossom, your melt experiment is interesting. I’m going to try that with some older thread I have. Yesterday I saw this on the Superior Threads site:

”Polyester fibers recover quickly after extension (the term elongation describes the stretch and recovery) and absorb very little moisture. Polyester is heat resistant (dryer and iron safe), with a melting temperature of about 480º F (in comparison, nylon starts to yellow at 350º F and melts at about 415º F). Polyester fibers are colorfast, resistant to chemicals, and can be washed or dry-cleaned with most common cleaning solvents.”

I've been using 80wt. Deco Bob, a Wonderfil product. I couldn’t find a melting temperature listed, I zoomed over to Panosonic and discovered my rechargeable iron only heats to 350^. But when in doubt, you experiment is the obvious solution.

This 80wt thread is the bomb! I can’t even feel it in the seam at all, and my blocks are flat. There’s just one problem, I’m having trouble seeing it.

I've been piecing with Aurafil for a while now. After reading this thread, I might try using polyester. I have a spool of Glide that I'll try on my next project.

I wish we had a thumbs-up icon. I thumbs-up this post. 👍😊

You can tell if old thread is ok to use by giving it a tug. If it breaks, don't use it. Thread can be damaged by exposure to moisture and light. I use very old thread (some of it still on wooden spools) all the time for decorative purposes and also for piecing. I give it the tug test. Sometimes the thread on the outside is bad, but what is underneath it is good. Again, tug on it. You'll know immediately if it's dry rotted, etc. I don't use thread that is mildewed or dirty, but I do check what's underneath the first couple of layers to see if it is salvageable.

I also have sewn with Dual Duty, the old Coats, the old Clarks, various no name brands that are out of business, etc. and they all worked well. That said, some of the older polyester threads tend to melt if ironed on cotton setting, but the newer ones seem okay at higher temps. I often piece with Bottom Line thread or with Coats and Clarks 100 wt. poly embroidery bobbin thread and they both hold up to ironing at cotton temps.

Rob

My experience also. If even half of those " truths" were true, the quilts I made 40+ years ago would have self- destructed by now instead of being used by another generation.

The fineness of the seam/thread is both lovely and an issue to my vision issues! I usually make the decision most of the time to recut/sew if I can rather than take out stitches which is my last resort. Even before using the So Fine, with cotton threads I could barely see the stitches even with my readers on. When you add my small stitches to the mix -- it's better just to be accurate or have lots of fabric!! To correct things I need an ott/direct sun light and serious reader strength.

In my scrappy style of sewing typically I use a camel/light tan thread and a medium to light slate blue/gray, one each top and bottom. Both of those colors tend to disappear the best, and usually I can at least see the thread line if not the individual stitches on one side or the other.