just for the sake of going OLD SCHOOL...
 

have any of you ever successfully used hand spun thread in a sewing machine. or I should say Home spun, drop spindle Spinning wheel I don't care how how it was made, just the fact that a regular person outside of a factory made it. I mean I see a lot of people thinking Wow when the grid goes down I am gonna have a treadle. well I have heard tell that old weird or uneven thread gives dreadful results and I don't see Amazon or Hobby lobby being n alternative in a "grid down" situation. as all of the old machines I have been around seem to use "factory" thread I am thinking thread was a commodity before machines ?

Never done it but have thought about it. Not sure how it would work for a machine tho. I can see uneven thickness or blobs playing havoc with a needle. I'm pretty sure thread was sold on spools before machines came along. Gonna do some Googling I think.

http://sewalot.com/sewing_machine_threads.htm A history of thread. Very interesting.

Fingering weight yarn is the thinnest I've heard someone hand spin. It's great for knitting socks but it would difficult to use for machine stitching. I don't know of a needle eye large enough and I would think it would cause tension issues as well.

you could try it in the bobbin area while using regular thread for the top thread.

You are really limited by the needle size and the size hole in your throat plate - as foufymaus says use it in the bobbin - I think it would be more decorative than functional

You can spin finer than fingering weight. And people spin yarn for weaving warp all the time. I'd think you'd have better luck spinning flax for thread. Longer fibers and strong, it should also be possible to spin it fine and even enough. Silk would be a good choice too.

I'd try using those top stitching needles, with a larger eye. Good luck!

People were making fine thread for hand sewing and for weaving cloth long before sewing machines were around. I don't know if it was a home type of spinning operation or if more specialized machines were needed though.
Rodney

I do have a friend that did a series of embroidery. She spun up various types of wild silk, then embroidered a picture of the moth that created the silk. Very neat stuff and they did an article for it in Spin Off.

Cotton is a short fiber and it's hard to spin it as fine as you need for thread. It likes to be spun fine, but still hard to do. That's why I'd go with silk or linen.

that is kinda what I was thinking, people have been spinning THREAD, for a long time,( I mean linen cloth is not made from yarn ) I have also heard that even OLD machine made cotton thread plays havoc with machines... so I was wondering if the "lumpy" had spun ever stood a chance or if it was ever common, I see now where the earliest large scale mills roughly coincide with machine introduction... so my chances of ever making it work are pretty slim.

Maybe I should raise some of them Golden Orb spiders... or the mutant spider goats ( google it its fun )

I know many embroidery needles have larger eyes that are specially square shaped to allow as much room for the thread as possible. They might be the way to go for hand spun threads.

I've read that old thread works poorly in machines because as the cotton sits around it gets brittle, and can snap in a sewing machines harsh treatment. I haven't really had the opportunity to try old-but-not-antique thread in my machines. If it get some 20 year old thread I'll give it a go ;)

... Golden Orb spiders bite...

Came across some information on spinning cotton http://www.newenglandsimpleliving.co...haspinning.htm that I thought might interest you.

Very interesting device, putting it on my list of things to research.

I've decided to wait until the grid goes down and firgure it out then.

I buy BIG cones of poly thread.... and don't sew much I should be good ;-)

Or keep spools of cotton thread individually packed in nitrogen and sealed inside foil-lined bags! It's the oxidation that does most of the damage. :D

Thank you for the link about charkhas. It was very interesting! I've never even heard of them before!

I think most of the hand/home spun thread was used for hand work rather than machine. It would seem to me that it would require a great deal of expertise to spin thread suitable for use in a sewing machine. I certainly would not attempt it!