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Modern Art Quilters
Sewing Machines and Other Tools for The Best Quilting Results...
SEWING MACHINES FOR BEGINNERS (and more advanced students!)
by Helen Howes NEW SERIES: PART 5 - Thread StandsModern threads are presented in many ways - the old Sylko reels that you grew up with were always wound in parallel layers and designed to sit nicely on top of the machine on an upright spool pin. This is fine as long as you remember to put them on the right way up, so that the little notch does not catch the thread as the reel revolves. (As an aside, the invention of the sewing machine made a huge difference to the quality of thread - you can hand-sew with almost anything, but machines like fine, consistent, strong threads..)
Nowadays, many threads are sold on narrow spools or card tubes, cross-wound, and they don't always sit well on the top pin. They can wobble and rattle and catch. Very irritating and not conducive to nice stitches. So, for almost all my sewing, I use a Thread Stand, of one sort or another. The simple ones, like the one shown below, are available all over - buy a heavy one if you can. Mine has a metal base. Sit this behind the machine and a tad to the right. Run the thread past the spool pin, or tape a small safety-pin to the back of the machine as a thread guide...
Small spools sit nicely, and unwind smoothly upwards, reducing tangles and catches. And of course, you can buy big spools - I use a lot of these and they are extremely economical.
The more sophisticated modern machines may have built-in stands of the overlocker type - this is my Juki, it has two pins so you can wind a bobbin without unthreading the other spool..
And, if you have woodwork skills, or live with someone who does, these are easy to make...
Happy sewing!
HH
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