Understand Sewing Thread, Use Sewing Thread Well

Sewing thread is the main thread material, which is used to sew all kinds of clothing materials, and has dual functions of practicality and decoration. The quality of sewing thread not only affects sewing efficiency and processing cost, but also affects the appearance quality of finished clothing.
 
Classification and characteristics of sewing thread
 
According to the raw materials, sewing thread for clothing can be divided into three categories: natural fiber sewing thread, synthetic fiber sewing thread and mixed sewing thread.
 
1. Natural fiber sewing thread
 
A. cotton sewing thread: it is made of cotton fiber through refining, bleaching, sizing, waxing and other processes. Cotton sewing thread can be divided into no light (or soft thread), silk light and wax light.
 
Cotton sewing thread has high strength and good heat resistance. It is suitable for high-speed sewing and durable pressing. It is mainly used for sewing cotton fabrics, leather and high-temperature ironing clothes. The disadvantage is poor elasticity and wear resistance.
 
B. silk thread: long silk thread or silk thread made of natural silk has excellent luster, and its strength, elasticity and wear resistance are better than cotton thread. It is suitable for sewing all kinds of silk clothing, high-grade woolen clothing, fur and leather clothing, etc.
 
2. Synthetic fiber sewing thread
 
A. polyester sewing thread: This is the most widely used and popular sewing thread, which is made of polyester filament or staple fiber. Polyester sewing thread has the characteristics of high strength, good elasticity, wear resistance, low shrinkage and good chemical stability. It is mainly used for sewing jeans, sportswear, leather products, wool and military uniforms. It should be noted that polyester suture has a low melting point and is easy to melt when sewing at high speed, which will block the needle eye and cause suture fracture. Therefore, it is necessary to select appropriate needle.
 
B. nylon sewing thread: Nylon sewing thread is made of pure nylon multifilament, which is divided into three types: long filament thread, short fiber Dimensional thread and elastic deformation thread. At present, the main variety is nylon long filament thread. It has the advantages of large elongation and good elasticity, and its tensile length at the moment of fracture is three times higher than that of cotton thread of the same specification. Therefore, it is suitable for sewing chemical fiber, woolen cloth, leather and elastic clothing. The biggest advantage of nylon sewing thread lies in its transparency. Due to its transparency and good color compatibility, it reduces the difficulty of sewing line and has a broad development prospect. However, due to the high stiffness and low strength of the transparent thread in the market, the thread trace is easy to float on the surface of the fabric, and it is not resistant to high temperature, so the sewing speed cannot be too high. At present, this kind of thread is mainly used for applique, cutting edge and other parts which are not easy to bear force.
 
C. vinylon sewing thread: it is made of vinylon fiber with high strength and stable stitch. It is mainly used for sewing thick canvas, furniture cloth and labor protection articles.
 
D. acrylic sewing thread: made of acrylic fiber, mainly used as decorative thread and embroidery thread, with low twist and bright dyeing.
 
3. Mixed sewing thread
 
A. polyester / cotton sewing thread: it is made of 65% polyester and 35% cotton, which has the advantages of both polyester and cotton. Polyester / cotton sewing thread can not only meet the requirements of strength, wear resistance and shrinkage, but also overcome the defects of heat resistance of polyester. It is suitable for high-speed sewing, and can be used in all kinds of clothing such as cotton, polyester / cotton, etc.
 
B. cored sewing thread: the sewing thread with filament as the core and covered with natural fiber. The strength of cored sewing thread depends on the core thread, while wear resistance and heat resistance depend on the outer yarn. Therefore, the cored sewing thread is suitable for high-speed sewing, as well as clothing requiring high sewing firmness.
 
The principle of using sewing thread well
 
Sewability is the comprehensive index to evaluate the quality of sewing thread.
 
Sewability means the ability of sewing thread to form a good stitch and maintain certain mechanical properties in the stitch under specified conditions. In order to ensure the sewability, the sewing thread also needs to be correctly applied. To achieve this, the following principles should be followed:
 
(1) compatibility with fabric characteristics
 
Only when the raw materials of sewing thread and fabric are the same or similar can the shrinkage, heat resistance, wear resistance and durability be unified, and the appearance shrinkage caused by the difference between the thread and the fabric can be avoided.
 
(2) consistent with the type of clothing
 
For special purpose clothing, special function sewing thread should be considered. For example, elastic sewing thread is required for elastic clothing, and heat-resistant, flame-retardant and waterproof sewing thread is required for fire-fighting clothing.
 
(3) coordinate with trace shape
 
The stitches used in different parts of the garment are different, and the sewing thread should also be changed accordingly. For example, bulky thread or deformation thread is needed for the overlying seam, the thread with large elongation should be selected for the double seam, the crotch seam and shoulder seam should be firm, and the buttonhole thread should be wear-resistant.