Monofilament vs. Upholstery thread
My monofilament thread came in today, so I whipped up a little sample of it vs. my normal upholstery thread.
(scrap fleece on scrap foam, apologies for the stray furs!)
Monofilament on the left half, white upholstery thread on the right (only have natural colored thread, so this was the best I could do), with a ~1/2" gap in the very center with no stitching. Both were done in a Hanson/Muppet stitch, not my normal stitch but I'm pretty proficient in hand sewing. I went back through both seams and picked them with the needle when I was done.
In my opinion, both from the photos and from seeing it in person, the monofilament did marginally better. I did that side first, so it's not really a case of me having more practice with the stitch either (if anything, I pulled the end of the monofilament section too taught at first). I can't really see any thread poking through the seam in either sample.
Is the slight increase in seam hiding capability worth buying another kind of thread? I'm not entirely sure. It's very smooth and flexible, and even the more heavy duty size I got is thinner than my standard T69 upholstery thread. It wasn't very hard to knot, but I did take a little extra care with the knots just in case. Will it become my new standard thread? No, because the thread has a tendency to 'roll up' while sewing, and that gets on my nerves more than the twist my upholstery thread gets sometimes. Remember though, you get what you pay for. I shelled out for a good quality thread, and if you get a cheap thread, you're liable to get a cheap result. The ends of the seams aren't all that irritating either, the thread's very flexible (and it's not that hard to tuck it back into the seam either) and much softer than the stuff I remember from quilts as a child. I bet the thinner/less strong threads are even softer, but I chose to test the closest two kinds I could find.
Tl;dr- Monofilament's alright, but it's not that different from upholstery thread as far as seam visibility. Your stitch seems to be the defining factor.
Monofilament thread I used: Monofilament - Size 010 (Tex 50) - Clear - Nylon from http://www.thethreadexchange.com
Stitch tutorial I used: http://youtu.be/gF6ux6SqKQU
(scrap fleece on scrap foam, apologies for the stray furs!)
Monofilament on the left half, white upholstery thread on the right (only have natural colored thread, so this was the best I could do), with a ~1/2" gap in the very center with no stitching. Both were done in a Hanson/Muppet stitch, not my normal stitch but I'm pretty proficient in hand sewing. I went back through both seams and picked them with the needle when I was done.
In my opinion, both from the photos and from seeing it in person, the monofilament did marginally better. I did that side first, so it's not really a case of me having more practice with the stitch either (if anything, I pulled the end of the monofilament section too taught at first). I can't really see any thread poking through the seam in either sample.
Is the slight increase in seam hiding capability worth buying another kind of thread? I'm not entirely sure. It's very smooth and flexible, and even the more heavy duty size I got is thinner than my standard T69 upholstery thread. It wasn't very hard to knot, but I did take a little extra care with the knots just in case. Will it become my new standard thread? No, because the thread has a tendency to 'roll up' while sewing, and that gets on my nerves more than the twist my upholstery thread gets sometimes. Remember though, you get what you pay for. I shelled out for a good quality thread, and if you get a cheap thread, you're liable to get a cheap result. The ends of the seams aren't all that irritating either, the thread's very flexible (and it's not that hard to tuck it back into the seam either) and much softer than the stuff I remember from quilts as a child. I bet the thinner/less strong threads are even softer, but I chose to test the closest two kinds I could find.
Tl;dr- Monofilament's alright, but it's not that different from upholstery thread as far as seam visibility. Your stitch seems to be the defining factor.
Monofilament thread I used: Monofilament - Size 010 (Tex 50) - Clear - Nylon from http://www.thethreadexchange.com
Stitch tutorial I used: http://youtu.be/gF6ux6SqKQU