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Hello, we have been screen printing for 5 years and are getting a single head embroidery machine in December. I spent the first 3 years of our screen printing experience testing different inks, mesh counts, etc and while it was great I also wasted a lot of money on the wrong supplies. For our embarkment in the embroidery world I would like to minimize the amount of wasted dollars and thought I would ask here what everyone suggests as far as brands and materials. We will be doing mostly hats and polos as that is what we currently outsource the most of but I am sure there will be other stuff that comes our way. I'm looking to start purchasing supplies over the next few weeks while we work through the purchase process of the machine. What does everyone suggest for threads and needles? I know MADEIRA is the most popular for thread but what is the difference between PolyNeon and Rayon? My apparel supplier (Alpha) also sells Triumph needles but I dont know what the difference between Titanium/Chrome and Universal/Ball Point is. What about backing? Primarily on structured hats, what does everyone suggest? These questions may be vague but I'm not sure where else to start than with the basics. Thanks!

We would also appreciate suggestions for all-purpose machine embroidery thread - for embroidery projects, pillows, quilt, crafts, etc. Thanks very much for your input!

A while back someone posted that 40 weight thread is coincidentally .40 mm thick. I took this to be obviously incorrect. Not only is the measurement misleading the conclusion was arrived by laying a two pieces of 40 weight thread on a ruler and wa-la there you have it! The reason I questioned this other than the obvious kindergarten method of measuring was it seemed incorrect to me. So I contacted Ackermann to see if they had a more accurate measurement. The USA warehouse didn't have this information and referred me to Germany. Germany responded by giving me this information. Quote: Poly 40 weight thread is .24685 mm in thickness. Rayon is a little thinner. So now when you try to calculate anything using 40 thread you have the accurate measurement. This would be very useful when zooming in on a stitch file and measuring densities. So use your new found knowledge well. And have a good week )

Hi everyone, I am very confused. Last week technician came to service our embroidery machine which is a commercial one, its a Texmac 1501 machine. It had developed some issues in bobbin and tension settings. The previous owner had bought at least one starter pack, Madeira 1000M rayon viscose thread and we've been sewing using it. He recommended to stop using rayon because it creates havoc over the tension on the machine. Additionally, these spools aren't behaving correctly on my machine, causing thread breaks when the thread unwinds from the bottom of the cone. However, the colors are beautiful!! Plus I read on AllStitch Embroidery Supplies - Your Discount Embroidery Supply Source on the pros and cons of rayon vs. polyester thread and it looks like the victor was rayon. I'm thinking if you let me know what you use and your thoughts about this debate. Thanks in advance!!