Saturday, October 9, 2010

All About Silk Thread

I've gotten a lot of questions about silk thread this week, so I thought the subject deserved a post of its own. Photographed above are the two types of silk thread I keep on hand: 1) on top, Gutermann #s303, which is the regular-weight thread that can be used for hand or machine sewing. It comes on a blue spool in lots and lots of colors. (Here's an online source.) 2) on the bottom is Gutermann #R753, which is heavier weight silk and is known as buttonhole twist. I use this less, but it does come in handy for making thread chains, like for swing tacks on linings. (Here's another online source which carries both weights in all colors.)

The regular-weight thread on the blue spool is the kind of thread used for most handstitching in tailoring, like pad stitching, basting, and catch-stitching hems and seam allowances. The heavier twist is used for the exquisite handworked buttonholes in expert tailoring, like these. The reason for using silk? Like silk fabric, silk thread is smooth and strong. It slides easily through fabric and interfacing and doesn't show press marks when steamed. Run it through beeswax for extra strength and less tangling. (Casey did a great tutorial yesterday on this; definitely go check it out.)

As for color: as a general rule, you want to match your silk thread to your fashion fabric, but don't worry too much about an exact match. With pad stitching, your stitches won't show on the outside of the garment. For hems and other hand stitches, it's nice to have a thread color that blends with your fashion fabric, but not essential. I would say that matching color is less important than getting silk if you have to choose.

Need a silk substitute? In Cool Couture, Kenneth D. King recommends rayon embroidery thread as a readily-available and affordable option. The brand that most retailers carry seems to be Sulky.

I'm pretty sure this covers it for now. Let me know if you have more questions!

P.S. I thought you might enjoy Pip's participation in my silk thread photoshoot this morning. First, she posed in silhouette behind the curtain.

 Then she popped up for a closer look.
 And bam! Silk thread is fun to knock on the floor.
Thanks, Pippi. I couldn't do it without you.

24 comments:

  1. Oh I'd been wondering about the silk thread - thanks so much for posting. Another funny question though, where do you find beeswax for running the thread through? I don't think I'd know where to start looking.
    ~Alana

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  2. Thanks Pippi for the tutorial on how to play with silk thread! I'm sure the Chief will enjoy the information! :)

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  3. Oh, you can get beeswax any place that sells notions! Joann sells Dritz, for instance:

    http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3227&PRODID=prd2989

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  4. Gertie,
    Your blog is so apropos! I just bought some
    buttonhole twistthread and some tailoring silk
    thread (on a wooden spool nontheless) from B. Black
    & Sons here in Los Angeles...because I'm taking Susan Khalje's Hand Couture Techniques from PR. I loved
    hearing you discuss the various uses of silk thread!

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  5. Pippi had to check out the thread - she is adorable. SO glad she wanted to be a part of the tutorial.

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  6. Heh. Good kitty. I've made 5 or 6 trips to the fabric store(s) so far and forgotten the silk thread every time. I also forgot to buy an extra button when I went for my buttons, so lucky for me it's a 5-minute bike ride for another button and silk thread. Tailoring = exercise!

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  7. Sandra Betzina posted a free video on her site a couple of days ago re: using silk thread. Must be something in the zeitgeist. www.powersewing.com

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  8. Very cute kittie! My only thought with silk thread is that it's kind of a fickle fiber...I personally think it's better for top-stitching, embellishment, etc, than making the whole garment hang together. Silk gets a bit chewed up going back and forth going through the eye of a sewing machine needle...so it's a bit damaged by the time the stitch is made on the fabric.

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  9. Thanks, Gertie! I started to some research on silk thread and this clarifies a lot of things. The one you use for tailoring is exactly the kind that I bought... yay! :)

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  10. I've used rayon thread for hemming, and it is strong-ish, and quite smooth, but tangly. Of course I didn't use beeswax. I'm super excited about this tailoring stuff, though I probably won't make my coat till after all Christmas projects are done.

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  11. NancyDaQ, I didn't know about Sandra Betzina's online classes! Are you enrolled? Do you love it?

    Fabric U, this was meant just to be about hand stitching with silk thread, sorry if that was unclear! I don't use it in my machine either, but when I was researching it in the Threads archive today, I came across an article that highly recommended using it in the machine--when it's appropriate, of course. I might give it a try sometime!

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  13. My favorite silk thread is Tire from Silk Things, http://www.silkthings.com/index.htm
    I forgot to say NAYY.

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  14. Yay! Great post - I've never noticed the buttonhole twist kind of silk thread (perhaps it's not at Joann's, the only place I've looked!)

    I started out sewing as a hand-sewer (quilts, not garments) and I love, love, love silk thread for hand sewing. In fact, it's a project stopper if I don't have any!

    I read somewhere recently (but can't remember where, was it here? doo!) that if you use silk thread in your machine, the tension gets wonky. I've used for topstitching, and didn't notice tension issues, but just thought I'd mention!

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  15. I have tried handstitching with rayon embroidery thread, if its for machine embroidery, then it is extremely slippery and not very fun to work with

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  16. I buy YLI brand silk thread from equilter.com. The thread is actually finer than the Gutterman thread and doesn't need any waxing or anything. It goes in and out of the fabric like a dream! And, the most important feature is that it doesn't leave any evidence of basting on the garment.

    I've also used it as the top thread for machine basting without any tension problems.

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  17. For pad stitching, I've always used Kinkame silk thread. It is finer than Gutterman and I find that it does not need to be run through beeswax.

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  18. I've also gotten silk thread from Silk Things. They have a color card with all the different colors and samples of different weights--there are quite a few weights from really fine to a couple of weightier ones that are buttonhole twist types.

    I asked this in another post, but it's probably gotten buried ;)... For those of us doing lighter weight fabrics such as silk tweed, would you still padstitch? (Obviously I'm not at this stage yet.) The hymo/hair canvas would overwhelm my fabric, and I am using a couple of fusibles (like weft) but I also have a light woven non-fusible interfacing. Or perhaps it's not necessary--just curious!

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  19. After two horrifying trips to the vet when my Russian Blue swallowed a needle and thread he took out of the pin cushion, I found out that the thread is the most dangerous! Please keep pets out of the sewing room.

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  20. Gertie - Do you have a source for silk thread in the NY Garment District? I haven't seen it, but perhaps I'm just not looking hard enough or in the right places.

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  21. For Clio:
    Oshman Brothers at 88 Eldridge St. in NYC. Lots of Gutermann silk thread available.

    http://oshmanbrothers.com/

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  22. Clio, also Pacific Trim on 38th. Panda International Trading (also on 38th, on the north side) has the buttonhole twist in all the colors.

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  23. Pippi is adorable. What a wonderful kitty family you have, Pippi & Henry

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  24. I have bought some silk from a company in the UK. I received great service and there was no minimum purchase requirement. They sell Utica silk, some Gutermann Silk and a small supply of Zwicky. They also supply Silamide and Nymo thread. For more details contact do@mmswebsite.com.

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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