#1 Tip to Save Time and Money on Thread!

#1 top money-saving tip for sewing machine thread!

It's easy to save time and money on thread. For most sewing projects, you only need three main colors: white, black, and gray. It's also helpful to have navy and cream in your stash. You can buy these colors in large spools or cones from Mettler or Gutermann brands. But don't use two-ply serging thread on your sewing machine. It's less robust than three-ply sewing machine thread.

How does this work?

When putting together your garment, quilt, or project, you only need to match the tone of the fabric, whether it's light or dark. Use white or off-white thread if you have lighter white or pastel fabrics. For darker jewel-tone fabrics, use black or navy thread. If you have medium tones, use gray. This trick also works when top-stitching and quilting your quilt if you don't have the exact matching color. You'll find that this thread tone matching is a helpful costuming tip. In costume shops, you'll usually only see white, black, and gray spools of thread.

These are the top 10 other colors of thread I use:

Burgandy and Christmas Red, Forest and Lime Green, Golden Yellow, Turquoise and Royal Blue, Royal and Pastel Purple, Dark and Medium Brown

You, too, will find your favorite colors. I only use these colors when top stitching my projects or quilting my quilts.

Should I buy thread on sale?

That depends on how old the thread is. A lot of the time, the thread goes on sale because it has become old. Do the stress thread test. Does it break easily or easier than it should? However, when the Gutermann variegated mega thread spools went on sale at Joann Fabrics (online only) for $ 5.99, I bought $100 worth, and it works great!

#1 time-saving sewing tip!

To save seam ripping time, use navy-colored thread on black fabric and black thread on navy fabric. You can also use cream color on white and white on cream fabric. This way, you can see the stitches on the material even though no one else can. If you want to do this with color, pick a slightly darker or lighter color thread than the fabric you use.

You can also use this trick when quilting your quilt if you want to see the quilting but not make the quilting so obvious. Often, white, cream, navy, gray and black do not show much on the top of the quilt. I know a quilter that exclusively uses white thread for piecing and quilting.