How would you like two rows of stitching set perfectly apart? Have you ever tried a twin needle? It’s two-two-two needles in one! And don’t you worry, it’s not tricky.Twin needles are great for decorative touches like pintucking or topstitching, and they are used often with knits but can be used on woven fabrics as well.Just as with regular needles, look for a needle of the proper size for your fabric. There is a number at the bottom of the package that looks something like 4.0/75. The first number is the distance between the needles (how far apart do you want your parallel lines?), and the second number is the size of the needle. The bigger that number, the heavier the fabric should be. For more on needles, see this post.
Supplies
(Click fabrics for direct links for purchase at Warehouse Fabrics Inc.)
Diamond Fucshia
Twin needle
This diamond fabric is a knit. I also demonstrated on a piece of lightweight quilters cotton, seen below.
The process
You insert your twin needle exactly the way you would insert any regular needle. It has just one post, just like your other needles. You’ll need to make sure you have a presser foot that accommodates a zigzag stitch and not your straight stitch plate.
You will need one spool of thread for each needle, but just one bobbin. If you don’t have two spools in the same color, don’t be alarmed. You can simply wind a second bobbin and use that as your second spool.My machine has a little post that I can stick in a hole to hold a second spool. That’s the spool on the right. My regular spool is lying down behind that.
Press under the hem of your fabric twice, as you normally would, and pin. You can also just fold it up once and be sure to catch the edge of your fabric with the stitching so that it sort of self-finishes. That would reduce bulk. Here, I’ve folded twice in a standard hem.
You’ll want to consult your machine’s manual. My manual said to set my width to between 0 and 2.5. You can see that there is a picture of a twin needle above those numbers, so that’s my range .It says to set the length to either the Stretch area all the way to the left or to the green area, which is 0-2. I went with the stretch stitch.My manual suggested I use some fancy stitch types that I have never used. They would not have made two straight lines, so I just left it on the straight stitch.
You’ll run your threads together one at a time, but most of the way (on my machine, anyway), they go through the same places. But at the bottom, my “extra” thread goes into a thread holder to the right of the needles and the “regular” thread goes into the regular thread holder, which is in front of the needles. This keeps the threads separated. It could be different on your machine.Thread through respective needles.
Stitch slowly. Mine is set on a stretch stitch, so it’s kind of doing a little hoppy, back-and-forth stitch so that it will have some give to the seam.
There is my finished stitch. I find with the knits and stretch stitch, it kind of makes a little ridge between the rows.You can also use a woven fabric and a regular, non-stretch stitch.
This is how my machine produces the back of the stitch. Remember, there is only one bobbin, so that thread goes back and forth. Many machines create more of a distinctive zigzag backside.
Here’s a view on the woven fabric where I used a non-stretch stitch.
Here I am showing the seam on the knit fabric stretched. The stretch stitch setting gives this knit some room to stretch.
