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Using Polyester Threads


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I am trying to use Polyester Superior Thread for a clients quilt, and the thread breaks after I take about 3 or 4 stitches. It is so frustrating!!!! As you can tell I am pulling my hair out at this time........HELP!!!!!!!!! I have tried to loosen the tension not just a little but a LOT!! and that didn't work any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have to have the quilt done before Feb. 1st and I am leaving for K.C. on Thurs and won't be back till Sun. so PLEASE HELP me. I forgot to mention I have a Mille and have had it since Nov. So I am very new at this.

Thank you for any help at all.

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Hi Renae:

Looking forward to seeing you down here!!!

Have you checked to make sure your machine is threaded right? Have you checked your bobbin case to make sure it's clean & threaded correctly? Do you have a spare bobbin case to try? Have you checked your needle to make sure there aren't any burrs on it? Have you tried a new needle?

You might do a search here to find out what others have done. I don't usually have a problem with Superior polyester threads unless they are variegated. And even then most of them are fine. But there's always those few times that you want to scream. Have you slowed your speed down? Check your stitches on the bottom. Does the top thread show much, and maybe even be loose? Or on the top, does the top thread seem tight and the bottom thread show some? It's tough with so many variables, but you will get to where it's easier and easier to figure it out.

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Hi Jeanne,

I can't wait to see you in KC but right now I am SCREAMING!!!! I have checked my bobbin and that is fine my machine is threaded correctly and I just changed the needle now thinking maybe that was the problem and I went to a 3.5 instead of a 4 thinging that may help. I am going to try to slow my speed down and see if that helps. The thread doesn't lay on the top it just breaks! I will try it again, talk to you soon.

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Okay, Renae, Breath...your sucking out all the air even here in New York.:D

First question how much humidity do you have right now or lack of....that is a huge play with thread. Have you done a thread test....yes even poly gets old and its just not worth the hassle to play with it.

TEST: Take a strand about 24 inches long...wrap a bit around each hand....now give a gentle, but strong smooth tug on the thread....did it break....IF not does it break at all if you give a stronger tug on it.

IF it broke on the gentle tug you have two choices... first off if its a NEW spool I would call Bob and tell him you have a bad spool, he is good about guarantees. IF its not and its been laying around a long time, pull off a bunch and see if you can get down below the bad thread, humidty is really bad for thread. AND secondly get yourself some Sewer Aid and smear it all over the spool and try again, this will make is a bit slicker and it goes through the tension plates easier and make life just better in general.

I should say you have 3 choices...lastly throw the stuff away and go get something else and try it...

Thread has a shelf life....unfortunately the manufacturers don't have to tell us when the thread was made...your spool may have been 3-5 yrs ago...or it could have been last week we never know. If you bought directly from Superior then its new, but if you bought from a retailer, you will never really know now long its been on their shelves.

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I am also new to LA and new to this forum. I have been having the same problem with polyester threads. I take 6 stiches and the thread breaks. My Milli seems only to like cotton thread at this time. I have played around with both top and bottom tension to correct this problem. So if anyone has an answer to this I, too, would appreciate an answer as I would love to be able to use the poly threads that are available.

Rachel

Hamilton, MA

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Renae, there are a couple of other things you might try: first, is your thread on a cone or a spool? That makes a great difference in how it should be set up on the machine. If it's on a spool, then you'll need to use the horizontal spool holder. If it's on a cone, you'll use the vertical spool holder on the backside of the machine.

Also, try using only 2 of the holes on the angled thread guide (the one with the 3 holes & is supposed to be pointing at "8 o'clock")--I forget what this thingy is called. Sometimes, tho, using all three holes is too stressful for the thread. I ran into your frustrating situation a couple of days ago; I'd always used all three holes in this angled guide. But in changing a needle out, I found where the cotton thread I'd been using would snap, snap, snap. Kept changing the needle, thinking the needle must've been bad. Finally, after going through a whole package of needles, I decided to play with the thread guide with the 3 holes. Voila! That was the problem (for now, anyway), plus the quality of the stitches improved.

Hope this idea helps!

Pat

AZ:cool:

Mille

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Hi Renae,

Also check to see if the thread is just "snapping" with a clean break or if it looks a little frayed. If it is frayed, it may be a burr down below. I have some acrylic threads that break at the slightest rough spot even after quilting successfully with cotton threads.

Kay

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What are you running in your bobbin? If the cotton worked well for you, you may want to consider setting up a poly-only bobbin case. I run my poly bobbins at about 18 (on Towa gauge) and my cotton, ie Signature, at about 15 and King Tut sometimes as low as 12.

Verify that your tension spring is in the bobbin case and that the spring has 2 fingers angled up against where the bobbin sits in the case.

Check that there is no debris (fuzz, tiny pieces of thread) in the bobbin case. Dirty case usually causes a loose stitch every 6 or 8 stitches, though. Look for debris under the flip-lock on the bobbin case.

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Hi Renae:

Have you tried a little piece of batting in the first thread holder - over the cone? Just run the thread through a folded piece of batting - I always have my Superior poly running through the batting piece with no breakage. The tension is still set higher than with cotton. I use a different bobbin case with each thread. One case for cotton; poly prewound and poly self wound. (you could wind a bobbin yourself with your tension over this, I understand and have been there!)

I always use a 3.5 or 3.0 with poly too.

Have a great time in KC, great time to get away.

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Are you putting the white net sleeve over the cone? If so, take it off. Also, do you have the quilt tight like a drum? Try loosening the quilt so it gently rests there. Then check the back black rail under which your quilt back feeds. If it is too high and you can fit your entire hand under there, your quilt cloth will vibrate thus putting too much pressure on the thread. Myrna said to make sure that the distance between your machine arm and the back bar should only go up to your first knuckle. If you need to lower it, have someone help you hold the one side while you screw the bracket on the side down further, then repeat with the other side until each end has the same clearance of a first-knuckle's worth.

Good luck and have a fun trip. Vicki

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I had the same problem and the same reaction to it. I tried everything that everyone suggested. What I eventually found was - that even though millie looked like the threading was correct it wasn't. In the place where the thread went through the tensioning disks the thread had jumped out of the disks and was between the tensioning mechanism and the body of the machine. From the side it looked like it was OK. It took me a lot of anguish before I figured out what was wrong.

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