The last two posts we did looked at bobbin work for thick thread. This time we’ll look at a whole other reason to work from the bobbin and a whole different result.

Everyone loves metallic thread. It’s beautiful. I’ve heard it described as candy. I concur. That is until you start to stitch with it. There are a number of things that make it “easier” to work with metallic thread. But no one ever says it’s easy.

Why? If you look at the construction of metallic thread, it’s pretty obvious. Metallic thread comes in a twisted flecked thread, a metallic colored lurex wrapped around a core, and a thin strand of lurex. Either way, it’s thread made to be shredded. It’s not one solid strand of one thing. It’s a combination that uncombines with ease.

How do we get around that? Sewers Aid (silicon treatment for thread) and a number 90 topstitching needle help. But the easy answer is to put it in the bobbin and work from behind.

I know. I know. I can hear you screaming “What????” at me through the computer screen. Sensibly enough. But any time my thread goes through the top of my machine, it goes through the needle 50 times. It gets pulled up through the bobbin once. Are you wondering why your thread broke? It’s so much easier to put the breakable thread in the bobbin.

For this, I used #40 weight metallic thread. I really like Madeira’s Supertwist for it’s color and shine and the color range. So we don’t need an adjusted bobbin case. We can use the regular bobbin case. But we still want to match the needle thread color to the metallic thread color. You will see both threads on the right surface of the quilt.

I do these most often as appliques. Why? Because they really pucker up. The distortion on zigzag stitching is ferocious. I make the same sandwich as last week, my drawing on Totally Stable, Stitch and Tear, felt, and hand dyed fabric.

I’ve talked a lot in this blog about free motion zigzag stitching. What matters is the angle that the fabric goes through the machine. Straight through gets a thick clunky line. At an angle gets you a very nice outline. Going from side to side gets you a great shading stitch. All out of the same zigzag.

I started by zoning my piece so I know the areas where the color changes.

I began with a black out line zigzag. Then I built my colors in, first with an outline, then the shading and then that clunky line to smooth it out, one shade after another, starting from dark to light. The last color I put on will be the color I see the most.

Here’s the process shots for this frog.

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After I’ve stitched it completely, the stitching lay flat, but the area around it ruffled like a party dress. I cured the whole thing by simply cutting off the background.

To apply it to my quilt, I stitched it down with the same black thread outline, run through at an angle to make a great smooth edge.

What is the difference between thin thread and thick thread?

The other major reason to use bobbin work with thin thread is because you can tie up the ends on the back. Every time you clip your threads from the front, there’s two thread ends poking up. For multiple layers of stitching, that can make the whole piece look fuzzy. I always prefer to work from the back and tie my ends up from behind, to keep them out of sight. This works just as well for poly/and or rayon threads as well. These moths were done upside down as well, but with poly threads only.

Don’t be afraid to work upside down! You’ll find all kinds of threads that have been fiends are now your best friends.