It’s handy to have a small quilt top or two in the studio when you want to test a new thread. I purchased a new-to-me polyester quilting thread from the sale section of a quilt shop. I was drawn to the happy thread color, a reputable brand (WonderFil Specialty Threads), and (of course) the price.
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| Quilt top basted and ready for quilting. |
I’m a fan of WonderFil threads, and thinking a 40 wt thread in a happy, hot pink color would be a good “showy” thread for my charity quilts, and the polyester fiber content would minimize lint in the sewing machine, I thought I’d give it a try.
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| Free-motion quilting on my domestic sewing machine. |
The thread, Innovatech, is a poly-wrapped polyester thread, 40 wt, TEX 27. Upon unwrapping the packaging, I was expecting a “thicker” thread—being it was 40wt. Checking the label, the other thread designation was TEX 27. I needed to do a little research…
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| Innovatech machine quilting thread, 40 wt poly, TEX 27. |
Thread weight designation: Wt vs TEX
To make things a bit confusing for the average quilter or sewer, there are several designation systems to characterize the thickness/weight of a thread. In the USA, quilters and sewers are familiar with thread weight: 50 wt, 40 wt, etc. In this system, the thread weight is determined by the number of kilometers of thread needed to weigh 1 kilogram. The length is the variable in the equation and the constant is 1 kg. The higher the number, the thinner the thread.
Another thread weight designation is the TEX system, which is the weight of 1000 meters of a thread, measured in grams. TEX comes from the Latin word, textilis, meaning woven. This system was adopted by the International Standards Organization [ISO] in 1956 .The length is a constant and the weight is the variable. So, the higher the TEX number, the thicker the thread. The TEX range for general sewing and quilting threads:
TEX 8 - 25 for fine and lightweight fabrics
TEX 25 - 30 for medium weight fabrics, quilting cottons
TEX 40 - 70 for medium and heavy weight fabrics (denim, canvas), garment construction
TEX 70+ for dense fabrics (leather), upholstery, outdoor, multi-layer fabrics
These are general guidelines. The choice of thread also depends on the project, its use, the thread’s fiber content, aesthetic considerations, the machine being used (serger, embroidery, domestic sewing machine, industrial machine), etc.
Pre-made bindings
After finishing the free-motion quilting, the quilt was ready for binding. I pulled out my box of pre-made bindings—a collection I keep stocked and ready for a new cuddle or kitty quilt.
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| My box of pre-made quilt bindings. |
The turquoise binding with the small daisies was chosen and there was enough to go around this quilt’s perimeter. Machine sewn to the back and rolled to the front, the binding is attached all by machine for a quick finish. A 50 wt. 3-ply variegated cotton thread [Tutti by WonderFil] was used for the zigzag stitch.
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| Machine binding. |
My box of bindings gets replenished with any backing trimmings that are wide enough to cut into 2.5” strips. Smaller pieces join other random and leftover fabric bits in the scrap box.
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| Trimmings from this quilt were cut into 2.5” binding strips or put into a scrap box. |
The Innovatech thread worked just fine and I learned about the TEX thread system. Here are the quilt stats for this charity quilt.
Quilt Stats
- 40 wt TEX 27 poly wrapped polyester thread (quilting and bobbin)
- bobbins: 2
- free-motion quilting: 1 hr.
- 50 wt 3-ply cotton thread for binding
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| Finished size: 36.5” x 45.5” |
I have done free-motion quilting with other poly threads and had good success. This TEX 27 poly thread was no different.
I’m unsure if this thread is readily found at quilt shops or it’s been produced through a partnership between WonderFil and Innova for longarm quilting machines. Either way, I have a 3000 yd spool of bright pink for future quilts. This finished cuddle quilt went to my guild for its community service project… for some little kid to snuggle.
