Fraying thread

[Mona C.]

I am happier hand sewing, never get the best out of sewing machines. I made piles of pom poms, made the design up as I went, hand appliqued made 20 squares- now decided to quilt as I go but suddenly 2 years after buying my Sapphire 875, which has been serviced , now fraying thread. I rethreaded many times, changed thread type, needles. I was so frustrated it beat me and I am definitely ashamed of the quilting. I got to the stage to finish the quilt too much work on it to bin and eureka only after 20 squares when sewing together with sashing and trying to quilt sashing I think, think, think I have hit on the problem. I stopped using Bottom Line thread success with before, changed to a neutral regular thread, brown to quilt with moderate success , frayed fewer times but when it did I realised it was the winding of the thread on the spool. When filling spools with Bottom Line previous quilts I filled from a large cone this time from a 1400 yd reel.

Is it my Viking that does not fill spools correctly? should it really come through the needle? It is possible to fill spools bypassing threading process but does it cause a problem filling spool that way Should the thread come off a reel to bobbin in a special way?I have rewound thread from bobbin to bobbin- . Is the Bottom line I thought was brilliant before not suitable for my machine or is it the winding - I am beat Has anyone else had a problem like this or know a solution.


(the mess)

[Mona C.]

First let me say that your quilt is gorgeous!

As for fraying threads, this happened recently to me also. I have an older Viking, but it's always worked fine for me. My chosen thread, in the past, was Signature cotton in both top and bottom. This time I wanted to use Twist from Superior and I thought Bottom Line would be my best companion. If I wasn't shredding thread, I was getting those nests underneath, or skipping stitches. I have a drop in bobbin so didn't think I could adjust anything there. I did everything imaginable. Then,,, I took a day off and when I came back I replaced the needle again, rewound a bobbin on low speed and through the channels but not through the needle just under the pressure foot. I chose a different cone of Twist, a different spool of Bottom Line. Basically, I really started over. And,,,, every thing worked. Not positive to the real culprit, but, a thought,,, if you have been shredding thread or getting nests you could have minutely bent your needle, especially if it's skipping stitches. I'd start with changing out the needle again, not that expensive when you consider the work we expect of them. Also, our bobbin threads need to be wound through the channels for proper tension but not on fast speed, as that can actually warp your bobbin. And one other thing I did, that I have no idea if it even had an impact. On my drop in bobbin area, there's a screw on the right hand side. Looks like it just holds everything in place, but I turned it to the left a fourth of a turn.
Best of luck on your search to getting things humming along in your sewing room once again!
May God bless the work of your hands,
Luann

[Nancy R.]

I have a Bernina, so can't comment on anything particular to the Viking. But I do have some experience with shredding threads. My most recent experience was using a spool of Mettler for regular sewing on a bag. The thread is cross-wound on the spool so I had it on my vertical pin so the thread would come off the top. I found that every few inches the thread would fray and break at the needle. After a couple of breaks, I realized that I was seeing the plies of the top thread were untwisting at the needle so you could see the individual plies poofing out (sorry I don't have a picture). Because it seemed to be a winding problem, I took the spool off of the horizontal pin and turned it around so that the thread was coming off of the bottom rather than the top (or vise versa). That fixed the problem completely.

Sometimes it's also just an incompatibility between your thread and machine. On my older Bernina, any time I free-motion quilted with SoFine on the top and moved the quilt to the right more than a couple inches, the thread would immediately shred and break. Any other direction was fine, any other thread was fine, I just couldn't use that combination. My solution there was to be careful with the direction of movement until I finished that queen-sized quilt (not fun!) and then to only use SoFine if the quilting design didn't require that direction of movement.

I haven't run into this, but friends have had problems with bad spools of thread. If there is a problem with the winding of the spool by the manufacturer, you will never be able to get the right tension. The test for that is to try another spool of the same thread, especially if it was bought at a different time so probably isn't part of the same batch.

Another thing that can affect thread is the weather. Threads will handle differently when humid than they will when it is dry. I would guess that this is more of a problem with natural threads than synthetic ones, but that's just a guess and could be wrong. This is why you should recheck your tension when you start quilting every day, even if you haven't change anything.

These are just a few of the possibilities. There are many more things that can affect your thread tension and can cause problems. We just keep plugging away and hope to keep learning from these situations.

By the way, that's a beautiful quilt and was very deserving of the efforts you put in to get it quilted!! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[Mona C.]

Yes reading your experience was helpful and encouraging to me. I hate a problem getting the better of me so yep I will keep experimenting and get there. Funny I never remember having problems with the old treadle sewing machines Really thanks

[Mona C.]

Thank you again I have re-read your reply 2-3 times it opens my eyes to the fact I have to persevere with checking choosing threads and winding methods. I feel encouraged I am in the right direction getting the right threads for my machine and to pay more attention to winding methods- it really never occurred to me the sophistic digital sewing machines needed to much 'tweeking' if that is the correct word. Ha ha I am getting on in years and did not want to spend time learning new technology which has passed beyond me by but I am finding I am rising to the challenge to be able to use all those digital stuff determined they wont get the better of me! thanks for answering

[Deborah W.]

Your quilt is beautiful.

[JOAN S.]

Have you looked at www.superiorthread.com? They do a selection of videos on youtube which are really useful for solving thread problems. I had problems when I first got my Pfaff Quilt Expressions 3 but using the guidance given by Superior theads was able to solve them. I use Bottom Line quite a lot but my favourite piecing thread is the Alex Anderson one. I also use a topstitch needle if I am using the thicker machine quilting threads or metallic threads, I was nearly driven mad by breaking threads before I did this. Hope this helps.

[wendy w.]

An additional thought, when I was having problems with the bottom thread breaking I found a tiny burr on my bobbin holder. The needle must have touched it at some point but it was fixed with a gentle file.

[Judith A.]

Hi Mona,
If your needle has hit the throat plate in the past, this can cause thread to shred. That happened to me. I bought a fine file at the hardware store and smoothed down the edge of the throat plate opening, and that solved the problem.
My favorite needles for trouble-free sewing are Superior's titanium top stitch needles. They really last longer for me.

If you think the problem is in the bobbin winding, you might want to consider a Simplicity Side-Winder. It winds thread on bobbins and spools. I have one and it works quite well. I have seen them at JoAnn's, etc. Just save the directions with it, in case you forget how to thread it, or how to adjust the speed and tension.

[Mona C.]

Thanks must look at the side winder - did not know about that. I got the titanium top stitch needles. Short periods of no fraying and then the fraying problem starting again- made me think it might be irregular winding- I am still going to get the better of this problem at least hopefully I am
Mona

[Mona C.]

Really like your quilt Mona! Please let us know what you find out about your shredding thread problem.
Barb

[Mona C.]

Thank you Barb., I am now hands empty(between quilts) but have been trying out(stitching) on practice squares with "intermittent" success hey ho! and then it frays again!! Is it winding, thread or my machine? ha ha and due to age and arthrtic knees I cannot jump in my car and drive 2-3 hours to supplier and have a "consultion" sending back by courier without demonstratiing is no good. I cannot get my Sapphire stitching like demo videos I have watched. I will report back with a big whoopee if and when I get this problem beat. Thanks again

[Charae H.]

Mona, your quilt is so-o-o-o beautiful! I love your stick to it attitude, too. There's no doubt in my mind that you will run down the shredding problem!