ormondbeach Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 I've been happily using So Fine in the top & bobbin without any problems whatsoever. Now I have a customer that only wants cotton thread to be used. I played with King Tut & Aurfil & am discovering the same thing- I practice to test the tension & things look great, so I start to quilt the panto. The top always looks great & occassionally the bottom tension looks perfect then 2 inches later it looks like my top thread is too loose. I can't tighten my top thread anymore without incurring thread breaks. Am I missing a secret trick? I test every bobbin with the TOWA gauge & aim for 200. Should I loosen it more with cotton thread? Thank you! Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Try some thread lubricator on the bobbin thread and see if that helps. Another thing you might want to try is a bigger needle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted November 7, 2012 Report Share Posted November 7, 2012 Everyone is different, but 200 on the Towa might be a bit tight for thicker cotton thread. I run King Tut in the bobbin (seldom but on occasion) and set the bobbin at 150 (or less) and the top tension at "way too tight". That's a technical term! Also, have the top a bit loose on the rollers. Test-stitch off the quilt to see where you need to be. Problems on the top side always point to the bottom side as the culprit. Make sure your bobbin case is clean and without lint under the finger. Make sure your bobbins are tightly and evenly wound--no squishies. I think Dawn has info on flat-lining in one of the "tension" help threads. Now's a perfect time to educate your "cotton-only" customer to the joys of poly thread. She will not go easily, but the range of colors, thicknesses, and glorious effects you can achieve with poly threads is worth trying to sway her to the "dark side"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ormondbeach Posted November 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 Thanks everyone! The "flat lining" seems to occur on the bottom, telling me there's something going on with the top thread. I'll still investigate & play around. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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