What type of thread?

Most embroidery designs are digitized for 40-weight rayon or polyester embroidery thread. These threads are shiny, not highly twisted, and are the right weight and strength required for decorative stitching. If you don’t already have a stash of high quality embroidery thread, then yes, you definitely need to get some before you start embroidering.

Polyester or Rayon?

With today’s high-sheen trilobal polyester threads, it can be difficult to tell the difference between rayon and poly. Polyester has improved immensely in sewing quality since the mid 90s and has gained in popularity and today is the fiber of choice for embroiderers. Poly wears better, stands up to strong/frequent laundering, is bleach resistant, and resists a breaking during sewing better than rayon. In my experience, polyester tends to pucker more after embroidery, especially if machine tensions are overly tight.

Why can’t you just use sewing thread?

You may be tempted to start with just whatever thread you already have on hand. Thread manufactured for regular sewing is highly twisted and is stronger and heavier than typical decorative threads designed for decorative stitching and for these reasons it is unsuitable for embroidery. If you have old and/or cheap embroidery thread, you will experience frequent thread breaks and shredding which not only significantly reduces the quality of your embroidery but will also significantly decrease your pleasure.

What brand of embroidery thread?

There are a lot of good embroidery brands on the market today. You may find it more economical to purchase a packaged kit of colors in a popular brand and then augment that with colors needed for various designs. Before buying a huge thread collection, you might want to do a little research and find out how popular it is. By that I mean is it used by a lot of different embroidery designers.

Many embroidery collections specify a particular thread brand along with a thread color number to allow you to duplicate the design. While there are no thread color police to make sure you use the same brand and color, keep in mind that the appearance of a design is highly dependent on the colors used. If you don’t have a good color sense, start with the same thread colors listed for the design. Also keep in mind that while there are conversion charts to allow you to find a close match in a different brand, it is highly unlikely that you will find an exact match.

Frequently used brands include Sulky, Madeira, and Robison-Anton but that doesn’t mean you can’t use another. I’m currently using Hemingworth because in addition to being a high quality trilobal polyester embroidery thread, it has a unique thread delivery system that also protects the thread. Do make sure whatever brand you select that it is a high quality brand.

What about metallic threads?

In general, use metallic threads only when specified in a design, especially when you are first starting out. For one thing, metallic threads when used excessively can look gaudy but more importantly, experienced embroidery design digitizers treat metallics a little differently to improve sewability. What you need to know is considered a specialty embroidery thread.

Avoid buying old thread!

Unfortunately thread has no “born-on date” nor is there a way to see how it’s been cared for. Thread that is dusty, faded, or has been stored in a hot, dry warehouse will be more susceptible to breaking a shredding so be careful when buying “close-out” thread. Bargain prices may be no bargain when it comes to embroidery quality.

Tips

• Buy a reputable brand from a reputable source that is likely to have high turnover to avoid old thread.
• Buying a collection will get you an assortment of popular colors at a better price than buying threads as needed.

Warnings

• Avoid buying “bargain basement” thread.
• Use caution when buying “miswinds” at a discount, they may not feed smoothly through the machine in increase the occurrence of thread breaks.

Embroidering on ribbon presents a few problems: ribbon cannot be securely hooped between the rings of the hoop, accurate design placement is difficult, and the tight weave is not conducive to the additional thread applied by embroidery. With a little know-how, you can easily surmount these problems. Watch this video on how to do it!

These techniques work well for other narrow embroiderable items like dog collars, sashes and headbands.

Supplies:

• Ribbon
• Appropriate design
• Wash-away stabilizer, fiber based (I used Hemingworth Wash-Away)
• Embroidery thread (I used Softlight Metallic)
• Double-stick embroidery tape
• Also used: Echidna Control-A-Twist thread stand
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (I used KK2000)

Get the Design

Download original embroidery Ivy Ribbon embroidery design

Prefer a Printed Version of the Article?

You can get a step-by-step illustrated version of  how to machine embroider on ribbon here.

Have you tried sewing or embroidering with metallic threads only to have them snap and shred? If so, you may find yourself avoiding using these beautiful eye-catching fibers as embellishments in your projects. By implementing these 9 proven tips, you can improve your results quickly and easily!

1. Use the right thread: a high quality, well-cared for metallic thread. Cheap, old, dried out or bruised thread of any kind breaks more easily. Run the thread through your fingers to see how smooth it is.
2. Use the right needle: the correct size for your metallic, in excellent condition, and make mine an embroidery needle, not metallic. Depending your metallic thread, it may be slightly thicker than standard 40 weight thread so you might try going up one needle size.
3. Use the right design: You will get better results in a design that was specifically digitized for metallic thread. Also, see if the design recommends a particular brand; this often means the design was tested using that thread.
4. Increase the thread path: Metallic thread loops and kinks more than rayon or poly, and when a kink hits a thread guide, it causes extra tension on the thread which can induce shredding and snapping. Using a thread stand specifically designed to smooth out metallic thread—as is the Echidna Control-A-Twist Thread Stand—can dramatically improve sewing quality.
5. Slow the machine down: The faster a machine sews, the more tension there is on the thread. High tensions cause fragile threads to break more easily.
6. Optimize thread tensions: Make sure your machine tensions are not too tight. You may find that loosening them slightly will dramatically reduce not only thread breaks, but puckering when working with polyester threads.
7. Create a smooth path: Start with the spool and make sue there are no rough edges that can snag the thread. If you’ve had a lot of needle breaks, check the throat plate for nicks and burrs that might shred thread.
8. Avoid sticky backings: Adhesives can build up on the needle, on the thread, and can be drag—literally—to sew through, none of which is conducive to smooth sewing.
9. Fabric and stabilizer: Tightly woven, stiff, and/or abrasive fabrics and stabilizers are not metallic friendly and can strip the metallic wrapping.