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One embellishment that I really like on a blouse or the bodice of a dress is pin tucks, and I saw recently that one method of making them is with a twin needle. I've never tried to use a twin needle. How about you? Do you use a twin needle? If so, how/why do you use it (i.e., for what types of projects and techniques)? And, is it difficult to use? If not, any particular reason why not, or it just hasn't come up?
Oh, I'm sorry I didn't get my "Talk Back Thursday" post up yesterday - I received so much excellent information on last week's confession that I haven't had time to process it all and turn it into a coherent post. I'll get it written and posted over the weekend.
8 comments:
i use a twin needle for hemming knits. i've tried using one for pintucks, but i don't like how they turn out (they aren't bad, i just prefer 'real' ones). i do pintucks on my featherweight. if you want to learn how to do them with a twin needle, i highly recommend the book Fine Machine Sewing by Carol Ahles. she has a lot of good info on using wing needles also (which i've also used, and again, they work well, look good, but i like the look of hemstitching by hand better).
I've used the twin needles for pintucking, along with pintuck feet. My Bernina has 4 pintuck feet, each making a different width tuck. Also, I've corded them. For blouses, I like to plan the pintucks and make them on a block of fabric, then lay the pattern on top and cut it out.
I love to use twin needles for hems, too, especially on knits, but they look nice on other garments too.
They are super, super easy to use. I love them.
Never used them for pintucks, though. I may have to try that.
I've used twin needles for pintucking in the past when I was into heirloom. But not *that* one in the pic!! Shock! It's huge! If you want nice pintucks, I recommend a 1.8/70 or a 2.0/80.
Otherwise I use them all the time, like everyone else, for hemming knits. A stretch 4.0/75.
I didn't really start sewing knits until I discovered twin needles (and yes, they have them specifically for knits!). It solved the hem problem; a twin-needle hem, with wooly nylon bobbin thread, is much stretchier than a single stitch and doesn't pop nearly so badly.
I really haven't tried the pintuck technique; I've used regular twin needles for topstitching on wovens only a few times; far and away the most use a twin needle gets in my sewing machine is hemming knits!
I do use a twin needle for making pin tucks. I have a foot and a little thingy that attaches to my plate that help to make them using the twin needle. I have also used my twin needles for topstitching.
Tried using twin needles for knit hems and it didn't work for me - Tunneling issues even with wooly nylon and water stabilizer. Haven't tried pin tucks yet.
I've used twin needles to hem knits before I got my cover stitch machine and sometimes for double rows of top stitching, but it is necessary to loosen the top tension and test first. This does not work well on a thin, drapey fabric.
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