twin needle 101 - in downloads

:wave:

This tute is about hemming knits with twin needle and troubleshooting twin needle stitching problem.

1. There are so many different kinds of twin needle. for knits, i use stretch twin, they are bit harder to find but they are out there. universal will work too for mostly rib knits and interlock but not so much with jersey. If your machine has a zig zag option, you can use a twin needle. This is a good twin needle chart. for knits, i usually use 4.0/75 or 4.0/80. 2.5/75 is what i use for pintucks.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...xplITg/001.JPG

2.Depending on the machine, there should be an extra spool pin to place the 2nd spool for twin needle stitching, this is for my viking sm. thread the needle accordingly.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...YfQLLo/004.JPG

3. I am doing this on a piece of scrap and i am using rib knit since they are imo, the worst kind of knit to work with :p but for an actual garment, turn the hem on the wrong side and iron. you can serge the raw edges before turning.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...Ev9HfM/006.JPG

4. flipping it over on the right side, align the hem so that the twin needle *catch* the underside, i use a magnetic seam guide so my stitching will be straight, but you will need to use a non-magnetic seam guide if you have a computerized machine.

for the bobbin, i use wooly nylon and i wound it with my machine much like a regular bobbin thread.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...oBLHuc/007.JPG

5. for this tute purpose, i am using constrast thread. I am stitching this without adjusting any setting on my machine, this are my *normal* setting. no tunneling or any issue whatsoever. iron it on the right side only.
stitch length -2.5 (mine goes up to 4)
pressure foot tension - 1 (mine goes up to 3)
thread tension - 5 (mine goes up to 9)
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...RtfNDg/008.JPG

6. How the underside should look like, a *balanced* tension, there should be a slight zig zag on the bobbin (wooly nylon) thread.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...o3RX24/009.JPG

TROUBLESHOOTING
7. Then I purposely made a mistake, this is the underside of the twin needle stitching if my machine settings is set as follows:
thread tension - 3
stitch length and pressure foot tension unchanged.
the bobbin thread is almost straight, if i stretch this, i can feel a tug from the straight stitch.also notice how the twin needle and the bobbin thread are not *balanced*
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...jLIRPw/011.JPG

8. Another *mistake*
thread tension - 7
stitch length and pressure foot tension unchanged.
There is some tunneling on the right side, but because this is medium weight rib knit, it wasnt very obvious, it will definitely show with jersey.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...6NQqTU/012.JPG

Another great use for twin needle is doing pintucks. I didnt use any special foot for this. Based on trial and error, the best size for pintuck is 2.5/80. Pintucks works best on lighter weight woven, quilting woven, imo is a bit heavy. voile & lawn or even any other lightweight woven are the best.

I am using a scrap piece for the tute and I am using quilting woven.

1. Draw a line where you want the pintuck to be and how long you want it to be. You should be drawing this line on the right side but I am doing it on the wrong side so you can see my marker line.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...FKR6q8/013.JPG

2. Position the marked line in between the twin needle. Adjust your thread tension to the highest it can go (mine is 9) and start sewing.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...XG_D3Q/014.JPG

3. Using your pressure foot as a guide, stitch the next line, it will eventually look like this. There is slight pintuck look here but not nearly enough b/c the fabric is a little heavy.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...NpAY7M/016.JPG

4. the underside (ignore the messy thread)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_SO8Ys-6u0qw/TM...C5emrE/018.JPG

5. on cotton lawn, it looks like this, wayyy better.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/...f1f6b695b2.jpg

hope this helps someone :heart:

AWESOME~I needed help with this one too!! THANK YOU ~Aida!!!!

Thanks for doing this! I can't get the hang on my twin needle that came with my machine at all. I will have to give your directions a try!

Thank you for the tutorial. Could you just swing by and help me get this figured out?

Very helpful, I love that you did troubleshooting.

Thank you for the tutorial. I have just started working with knits and hadn't yet gotten a double needle. Now I am more confident. I am adding it to my to buy list.

Wow! Great tute! Thanks for sharing!

oooo, thank you!

Thank you - just discovered my machine has twin needle capability so will definitely give this a try now! :D