Reba'squilts

I have used c&c for so many years with no problems. But, I recently bought 2 spools of white to work on some valances I made for our kitchen and it gave me nothing but trouble on my diamond. I kept thinking the machine had gotten very ill and needed to go to hospital! I rethreaded quite a few times...cleaned....changed needle. Then I put on a thread I bought at local quilt shop. Sewed like a champ. Those two spools are out the door. I will have to check where they were made. The older ones I have work fine in all my machines.

GailG

What do you mean by "the newer Coats and Clark"?

Bubbie

I have different machines too, some old, some just older and some newer. All my none computer machines I could use anything in and they sewed like little champs (I learned on C & C). But my machines with "MOTHER BOARDS" are a totally different story. When a machine has a mother board in it, it's just like turning your computer into a sewing machine. Lint (from thread or fabric), can kill a mother board. And just like a computer the mother board is spendy to replace, but unlike a computer that you can work with other mother boards. Sewing machines can ONLY use the mother boards they come with (or one JUST LIKE IT). If a machine is only a couple of years old you should be able to get a new mother board without any problems. But if you have an older machine, your not so lucky. That's part of the problem after price. I know for my Pfaff, when Pfaff moved to Japan - that was the end of my mother board. My machine is older, but works like a dream. Because of no available mother board, each time I take her into the shop I"m asked if I would like to sell her". My sewing people know I have other machines, so it's not that they are trying to sell me a new one. It's just that they are looking for parts to keep them going, my Pfaff is almost 20 years old and I have been offered $1,000.00 for her (NO SALE). C & C used to put off a LOT of lint, not so much now. But I'm not able to take the chance with it. As for WEAK thread, any time ANY thread is made in Mexico you will have problems. It doesn't matter what kind - I use Gutterman and a few years ago, it was on a great sale all over town - it was because it was made in Mexico and it was weak and causing problems. So now I always look at my thread, I still use C & C for things, but not in my computerized machines.

bearisgray

I liked their cotton/polyester Dual Duty Plus thread better than the all polyester Dual Duty XP thread that seems to have replaced it.

bearisgray

If lint is a major problem, that would also seem to be a good reason to avoid sewing on lint poducing FABRICS?

ArchaicArcane

Thread sizes aren't standard. If a person is willing to set their machine's tension properly - yes, this means taking it off Automatic - probably 98% of the threads out there will run. Obviously some really low quality threads will still have problems - joins, slubs, inconsistent thickness, breakage, etc but otherwise will run.

The thing about automatic - and I'm not going to go into all of the details on a sewing machine tension, for the most part is NOT automatic. The label is misleading. Average is a better word. Assumption also works if they needed an A word.

The "automatic" setting on your machine is set to probably a 50wt mercurized cotton thread. Whose 50wt thread is anyone's guess so it could be a 2ply, 3ply or whatever. It could be thick, thin, etc. There is no automatic "sensing of the thread" and adjusting for it. When you use your own preferred thread, it may and likely will be different, and as such you may need to do an adjustment to the tension, both top and bottom. This is intended. This is why tension is user adjustable, not factory or service center set!

bearisgray

Interesting info. Makes sense. Thsnk you for posting it.

Needles

I've sewed for over 60 years, sewing in 4-H. After I married, my DMIL gave me her 1928 Singer that had been motorized from a treadle. She herself was a seamstress over 75 years. When the polyester thread came out, you know that old 5 for a $1 stuff, she said DON'T USE IT. I continued using C & C. When I got my 1975 Singer, the dealer/mechanic said, DO NOT USE POLYESTER THREAD, it causes static with your machine and all kinds of problems. I had that machine 30 years, nary a problem, using C & C Dual Duty cotton covered polyester. About 10 years ago, my now 2005 singer was acting up, it hit me my thread was twisting, breaking, lots of lint. That's when I found out C & C was now 100% polyester, nothing different than the now 4 for a $1 cheap stuff.

I even wrote C & C, got a rather snotty reply, as in no one else complains and it must be my machine. Well, I started asking others, they too were having problems and with all kinds of machines. I told them to write and complain. I haven't used C & C's threads since. While visiting OH right after that, I found a Presencia thread. Love it, 100% Egyptian cotton. Also, I go to thrift shops, garage sales, estate sales and buy all C & C threads that say Dual Duty cotton covered polyester, as I love that for sewing on polyester fabrics. And usually, I have a spool to match any color I need, as I have a couple of large baskets full, and quiltedsunshine, I'm glad you posted about the old C & C poly/cotton, actually does better than the NEW C & C 100% Poly. It's true, I haven't used C & C since they pretty much said I was a liar. My now 15 years old machine loves to have it's old thread back. I buy a few rolls of Presencia when we visit in Ohio, so I always have white, black, red and blue.

jeanne49

My sewing machine guy explained to me that the reason they don't recommend C&C is because they use short strands of fibre to wrap around the core and that creates a lot of buzz and dirt on the inside of your machine. I do use Connecting Threads thread because they have great sets and it makes it easy to buy. I have a lot of Sulky rayon thread because my mother did a lot of embroidery and I inherited it. I like the Sulky Blendables but I usually have to buy them online thru JoAnns. Some ladies from another group I belong to rave about Superior and I tried it and really love it. Gradually I am building up my stock of that thread, which I really like for free motion quilting.

I know thread can drive us all a little crazy, according to every thread company, their thread is the best on the market. I say, try something, and if you like it who cares what someone else says or thinks.

RosaSharon

I noticed that Walmart C&C thread is on the older spools with the slit on the side. The thread gets caught in it if you put it on the spool the way the instruction book says. You have to turn it over. My book clearly shows that this is the wrong way to use a spool of thread.

I emailed C&C and asked them if the quality of thread is different at Walmart than JoAnns. (I told them I liked their brand of thread.) They answered my email referencing my comment about liking their thread, and ignored my question about the difference of thread in Walmart / Joanns. Since the spools are very different, I still wonder if the thread is also different.