How to Choose The Best Thread for Handmade Home Decor Sewing Project.

Upholstery Thread

At Furnished By Hand, we like to keep it completely real, so I'll preface by stating this; The information here is purely for reference purposes. In my experience, the most effective way to determine the best thread to use for your home decor project is to test the thread out for yourself.

The size (thickness in diameter) and tensile strength will determine if the stitches you make will take the pressure applied on them when the finished upholstered furniture is in use.

You'll also want to make sure that your thread colour either matches your fabric (for invisible stitching) or contrasts your fabric colour (for visible stitching). Okay, now let's break down the thread types, sizes, and units of measurements you'll encounter.

Thread Types

Thread comes in every colour you can imagine. It's made of different types and blends of materials and some have had different treatments applied to the fibres.

The thread used is determined by the weight of the strands and the materials used to make the thread fibres.

Your local convenience store will probably stock All-Purpose or general-purpose thread. Most of us have this thread at home.

All Purpose Thread

100% All Purpose Polyester Thread

This thread is UV resistant and can be used to stitch net curtains and light to medium craft fabrics.

Polyester and nylon thread have almost the same characteristics. You can't tell them apart just by touching or looking at them.

You can also use them for the same sewing tasks without noticing the difference.

100% All Purpose Nylon Thread

Nylon thread is not UV resistant (it would need to be specially treated). However, it is tougher and denser than all-purpose polyester thread.

It can be used for stitching soft furnishings and some light weight upholstery projects like hemming net curtains and sewing pillow cases.

100% All Purpose Cotton Thread

Cotton Thread is the main type of all-purpose thread stocked in high street shops. It's made of natural cotton fibers and is very flexible. Cotton thread behaves like cotton fabric, as the fibers tend to fray and create fuzzy bits. These bits come off and thin down the quality of the thread over time.

All purpose cotton thread is often used as an alternative to pinning materials together, especially for tacking lightweight fabric pieces together.

All Purpose Thread Weights

The regular all-purpose thread that's sold in convenience stores has numbers. These markings appear either on the spool or on the sticky label on the spool.

The numbers indicate the weight of the thread and might be written like this: wt 40 P, which means Polyester thread with a weight of 40.

Regular all-purpose threads with a low number indicate a thicker thread diameter. Here are the weights that you will find at your local convenience stores:

Upholstery Thread is around 20 weight, and is thick enough for utility stitching heavy upholstery fabric.

Strong enough to sew jeans fabric and light to medium weight decor fabrics for scatter and bolster cushions.

Adequate for sewing dress fabrics, some drapery, light crafts, decor try-outs.

Thin enough to create intricate thread designs but not strong enough to permanently hold fabric pieces together.

All-purpose thread may be used for several different projects, however, it is meant to be used as a basic thread for general sewing.

Bonded Threads

Now that you're creating bespoke home décor using upscale supplies and fabric, you'll want to move on from regular threads and instead use bonded nylon and bonded polyester threads.

Bonded nylon and bonded polyester threads are coated with a special bonding agent.

The coating creates a layer over the thread fibres which makes the thread resistant to friction, erosion, sweat, decay, mould, and extreme weather.
The coating makes the thread strand thicker in diameter and increases the tensile strength.

The Tensile Strength of Thread

The tensile strength means how far a piece of thread can be stretched or put under pressure before it snaps apart. This is determined by the thickness and mass of the thread per gram.

Hand-Stitching Thread Weights and Units

The units of measurement and the way the units are described is different between countries and manufacturers.

We'll go through the main units that concern Furnished By Hand Stitchery.

Tex Threads

Tex threads are labelled with the acronym Tex and then a number, and finally the material that the thread fibres are made of, for example, Tex 70 Nylon. Sometimes Tex is replaced by #.

$Tex equals km over grams$

The measurement of Tex means the number of grams that 1 kilometre of a strand of thread weighs. Tex 70 nylon means that a 1-kilometre strand of this nylon thread weighs 70 grams.

Fine Tex Threads

Fine Tex threads have a low number between 9 to 19, and are best suited to finer thread work. This includes thread painting, embroidery, or sewing satin and silk soft furnishings and linings.

Mid Tex threads

Mid Tex threads are medium in thickness and range in size from 20 to 69.

These threads are used for an assortment of home decor and upholstery projects from stitching linen curtains to creating chenille bolster cushions.

Heavy Tex threads

Heavy Tex threads are strong and thick. The sizes range from 70 upwards.

These threads can be used for heavier upholstery projects like hand-stitching suede box seat cushions or jacquard curtains.

Denier Threads

The measurement of Denier is the number of grams that a 9 km strand of the thread weighs, so 250 D Polyester means that a 9 kilometre strand of this polyester thread weighs 250 grams.

Denier threads with a number under 180 are thin and light enough for fine thread decoration on silk and satin fabrics.

black and white denier thread painting of bride and groomof

Denier threads with a number between 180 and 300 are mid-thickness threads. This range of threads work well on cotton and mid-weight fabric. They are great for stitching typography designs like signatures and monograms.

Denier threads with numbers above 300 are thicker threads, perfect for embroidering gorgeous floral designs.

What we've learnt about threads

All-purpose threads are made of cotton, nylon, or polyester. They're usually 40 weight and can be used for upholstery project try-outs and light crafts - basically for making stitches that won't be subjected to high pressure.

Nylon and Polyester thread are stronger than cotton thread. Nylon is the strongest of all three because it has high tensile strength and elasticity. It can withstand pressure before it snaps. This makes it a good basic option for utility sewing decor fabrics together.

Bonded polyester and bonded nylon threads are specially coated threads. The strands are better suited to stitching good quality and heavier decor fabrics together. Bonded Nylon #69 is often used for upholstery sewing. It is tougher and has better heat resistance than all-purpose nylon thread. Home decor hand-stitchers should aim to use threads labeled with Tex or Denier.

Quick Tips

Tex 70 Nylon and Tex 90 Polyester are thick threads that can take six to ten pounds of pressure on each secure stitch that you make.

Good quality bonded polyester thread like Tex 90 Polyester is quite thick and won't fray along the length of the strand, but it does tend to split apart at the cut ends.

Once you've tied your thread ends in a thumb knot, seal the thread ends with a lighter or bead smith.

Good quality bonded nylon thread like Tex 70 Nylon is thicker and stronger than Tex 90 Polyester. It doesn't fray or split at the cut ends, but it's still good practice to seal your thread ends with a lighter or bead-smith.

The Twist

The weight and units of thread is more of a consideration for machine sewists than it is for hand-stitchers.

Even with the right top thread, a full bobbin, the right feet and a correctly set tension dial, you could still encounter problems.

Using the wrong weight of thread can easily result in nested thread, broken needles, knocked timing, and a jammed machine.

The Best thread for DIY Upholstery

Let's assume, for example, that you've found an industrial-machine-sized spool of thread and it doesn't have markings or a sticky label.

You can access any thread by eye-balling its characteristics: Does it look strong enough for your project? How thick is it?

Look to see how many single pieces of nylon or polyester are intertwined in a single strand of thread.

If you take a piece of thread between your hands and stretch it apart, does it snap easily / lose its stretch-ability?

Pinch a strand of thread between two fingers and run your fingers up and down on the strand.
Does the strand fray / are bits coming off?
Does the thread have a sheen or glossy look to it? Will it show up against your fabric?

Pour some boiling water onto your thread:
Does the thread melt?
Does the thread discolour the water?
If it does, then it will probably stain your fabric while in the wash.

Testing your thread for effectiveness is the best way to determine how appropriate it will be for your project.

Now go forth and build your Home Decor Thread Collection.