Do not use this thread in you sewing machine! It will make your sewing machine seem possessed, it will make nasty stitches and will make you want to pull your hair out. You might want to throw your sewing machine out the window!
The thread we are talking about is Hand Quilting thread.
Why is Hand Quilting thread so bad for a sewing machine?
Hand Quilting thread has a wax coating on the thread making it stick to everything thing metal in a sewing machine. It can’t slip through the tension disks, it gets slowed down around metal guides, and sometimes it even sticks to itself as it is trying to come off the spool! The wax coating is to help the thread glide through fabric and batting when pulling it through with a hand sewing needle. If you accidentally put this thread in a sewing machine, it will buck and kick with every stitch.
Where do we see Hand Quilting thread in sewing machines?
At Sara’s Sewing Machine Mastery Class #1, new sewing machine owners arrive to attend their very first, 3-hour lesson on their new sewing machine. Students are asked to bring their sewing machine, all included accessories, scissors and a spool of thread. Many new machine owners do not yet have the knowledge of what good quality thread is. This is one of the topics covered in great detail in this first Sewing Machine Mastery class. Students are taught early in class that thread and needles are the life blood of a good running sewing machine.
As class gets started, students are first taught how to wind a bobbin and thread the sewing machine. But, the one thing Sara always keeps her eye out for at the beginning of every class are spools of the dreaded Hand Quilting thread. It is a common mistake that owners of new sewing machines don’t even know they are making. At home they reached into the box of sewing threads their Grandmother gave them and pull out a random spool. Remember, Grandma did a lot more hand sewing back in the day then we do now, so the chances of selecting a waxed hand quilting thread from her sewing box is very high.
This alone is one reason to pitch all those old threads. Why would anyone risk accidentally using thread that was not good for their brand new high-performance sewing machine? Want to learn more about owning a high-performance sewing machine. Read our blog: “Owning a High Performance Sewing Machine Takes Responsibility”.
So, next time you sit down to sew, take a minute to separate out any spools that have a Hand Quilting thread label on them and put them with your hand sewing needles. They should be as far away from your sewing machine as possible.