Home › Top Questions Of 2006 | FAQS From 2006
Top Questions Of 2006 | FAQS From 2006
Top Questions of 2006
1. Will using prewound bobbins void the warranty on my machine?
This is a common question and unfortunately believed by many because they were told this by their machine dealer. I have never seen this disclaimer in writing in the manual or on the warranty card of any brand of machine. I asked machine dealers and some said they were told to advise their customers that using prewound bobbins would void the warranty. I still did not believe it so I went to the top, directly to the machine companies. Here is their answer: "Prewound bobbins will NOT void the machine warranty. There seems to be no problem with using quality prewound bobbins." I'm sure there have been cases where a customer takes a machine in for servicing and lint from cheap prewound bobbins has really clogged the machine. The service technician would then advise the customer to avoid them. I can understand and agree with that. But these stories have turned into rumors and rumors become assumed truths and it is difficult to undo these, but I'm trying. It is a fact that most major machine companies sell prewound bobbins. Approx. 70% of home machines use the standard L style prewound bobbin. A list of compatible machines is on our website. If your machine model is compatible with prewounds bobbins, choose wisely and enjoy the convenience.
2. Can So Fine be used for piecing?
So Fine can be used for piecing if you prefer to piece with polyester. The only caution is when ironing, not to use the iron on high heat. We prefer MasterPiece for piecing because it is a smooth, fine cotton and can be ironed without worry.
3. Can I quilt with serger thread?
Yes, but why would you? Most serger thread on the market is the cheapest type of spun polyester thread. When used on a serger, multiple strands of this thread are over locked, resulting in a strong and secure stitch. However, if used as a single thread for quilting, it is weak and fluffy. It doesn't make sense to put two dollars worth of thread onto a $300 quilt. Inexpensive serger thread has a loose twist, is not very smooth, has a lot of lint, and is not intended for single-strand use.
4. Will polyester thread tear my quilt?
This is a Top 10 question every year. The answer is No. If thread ever tears through the quilt, it is only because it was much stronger than the fabric. Some cotton thread is stronger than poly. To prove this, get some glazed (or coated) cotton thread and compare its breaking strength to a similar size polyester thread. Polyester is perfectly safe to use. Choose the thread by its quality and for the effect it gives and ignore the myths.
5. Why don't we have a full line of King Tut thread in solid colors?
Just as fabrics have changed, so has thread. Remember the old days when most fabrics were a solid color? Compare those to our current fabric selection. The fabrics we use today are rarely a solid color. They are either mottled, dappled, or textured, which provide much more depth to the fabric than do plain solid color fabrics. Thread plays a similar role. With solid color fabrics, it was often desired to do a perfect color match with the thread. If the color was not a perfect match, it would stand out and appear out of place. With today's textured fabrics, a tone-on-tone variegated thread complements beautifully and enhances the overall effect without excessive contrast. Approximately half of our King Tut colors and many colors in our other variegated lines are tone-on-tone colors. These have an appearance of being a solid color from a few feet away, but close up, one can see the four different shades of a particular color. Having four close shades in a single thread makes the thread much more forgiving as it ties the colors of the fabrics and the thread together.
6. What is the shelf life of thread?
A good quality thread today will last much longer than thread which was made 15 or 20 years ago. Even the best quality cotton thread of a generation ago did not have processing techniques available to us today and it would probably be best to avoid using them. However, a top quality cotton thread manufactured today will probably be fine to use 40 or 50 years from now. The difference is due to a higher quality of cotton and advancements in spinning, dyeing, and twisting technology. As for polyester thread, the color may fade over the years with exposure to sunlight but there is no evidence that the thread deteriorates so it will last a lot longer than we will.
7. Why isn't your thread in many local stores?
I wish we were in every store, but what we hear from too many store owners is that they already have two or three or four other lines of thread and they have no room to add a new line. Most stores which add our products do so as a result of numerous requests from their customers.
8. Is all thread labeled as Egyptian cotton really from Egypt?
No, it isn't. Many years ago, the term Egyptian cotton became a generic term for long staple cotton. Just as we use the word Kleenex for tissues or Xerox for copying, the term Egyptian cotton was used for any long staple cotton grown anywhere in the world. Egypt is now very strict in trying to protect this term but old habits die hard and I don't know if it will ever stop. A major thread factory in Germany labels their thread as Egyptian cotton even though it is grown in and imported from Romania and countries other than Egypt. They consider any long staple cotton to be Egyptian cotton due to the common use of the generic term. So how can we tell and does it really matter? Unless you have reliable information directly from the source, there really is no way to know the origin. What matters is the integrity of the company and the quality of the final product. For the record, our King Tut cotton and MasterPiece cotton are made from authentic Egyptian-grown extra-long staple cotton.