Heavy Metal Embroidery Project

Metallic thread can be a challenge to deal with. Essentially, it’s a lightweight cotton thread surrounded by metallic foil. Thus, it lends itself to kinking and twisting as it goes through the path from cone to needle, which invariably leads to the thread getting “hung-up” along the way, which in turn causes a thread break. With this in mind, it’s important to find a way to either eliminate or reduce the kinking affect.

One of the features of many new embroidery machines is plastic feed tubes that stretch from the thread trees to the first set of tensioners. These tubes not only reduce the twisting of metallic thread, they also provide a smooth passage and prevent it from catching on an adjacent thread or any other surface for that matter.

For older machines, you can create a similar solution. It involves attaching a plastic drinking straw to the front of the thread tree, extending outward toward the tensioners. You can also attach a flexible drinking straw from the thread tree downward towards the cone of thread. The flexible joint allowed the straw to easily bend downward thus providing a smooth passage for the thread. It’s not pretty, but it works quite well.

Another popular method is to punch a small hole in the bottom center of a styrofoam cup, and place it upside down over the thread cone. The thread is fed up through the hole, and then on through the normal thread path. During the sewing process, the cup will eliminate a good bit of the twisting.

Another point to consider when dealing with metallic thread, is that it costs about three times more than conventional threads, so now you have a difficult item that is expensive as well. Therefore, consider a surcharge for designs that require the use of metallic thread. Some shops charge an extra amount per thousand stitches, while others use a basic percentage rate. Regardless of how you decide to charge for metallic, just be sure that you do. After all, it really does cost more to use metallics, so it should be reflected in the selling price.