Every year more and more special accessories appear on sale, allowing you to significantly expand the capabilities of household sewing equipment. Among the abundance of paws, rulers and other devices, a double needle deserves close attention, because with its help you can easily and quickly perform a lot of decorative seams and operations.
The device and varieties of a double needle
The main distinguishing feature of a twin needle is the presence of two blades attached to the flask with a jumper. Thanks to this design, 2 lines can be laid simultaneously. Such a structure makes it possible to form 2 absolutely identical lines with the same distance between them over the entire length without much effort.
ATTENTION! Double needles, designed for old-style machines and new household machines, have a slight difference in structure. Not every craftswoman is able to notice that the grooves - the grooves located on the needle blades, are several millimeters longer or shorter than usual (especially if they don’t know about their presence), but the capricious technique immediately identifies this and refuses to sew. Therefore, when buying, be sure to focus on this nuance.
There are twin needles:
- for decorative shedding of low stretch fabrics;
- for hemming knitted fabrics (twin stretch).
They differ among themselves:
- blade diameter;
- the gap between the points.
They are usually marked with two digits located across the fraction line. Where a larger value corresponds to the number of the needle, and a smaller value corresponds to the distance between the tips.
Needles with a distance of 4 to 6 are used:
- for cutting lower sections;
- for stitching pockets and valves;
- for suturing joints to improve aesthetic appearance.
Samples with the distance between the blades 1.6, 2.0, 2.5 are more often used to form decorative finishing lines. The use of threads of various colors or shades allows you to achieve a highly artistic effect, with a minimum of effort.
Of particular interest to many seamstresses is the combined twin needle, one blade of which is normal, and the second is winged. This design is indispensable for sewing tablecloths, napkins or finishing light clothing.
Features of working on a sewing machine with a double needle
It should immediately be noted that the seams made with such a needle have a decorative purpose rather than a functional purpose. That is why they are used:
- in finishing works;
- when hemming the bottom of the product and sleeves;
- when sewing pockets.
They are never used for those nodes where significant load is expected.
Despite the fact that you can sew with a double needle on any household machine in which the zigzag function is provided, not all manufacturers equip the equipment with an additional spool pin and paired thread guides and thread guides. Of course, enterprising seamstresses easily come out of this situation by using a bobbin winder as the second rod, or simply install 2 coils on one rod (sometimes you need to put a bobbin with a wound thread instead of a coil).
The innovative method has the right to life, but it is not applicable to all household appliances. Some moody models are very “painful” of such experiments. For their work, it is very important that the threads unwind at the same speed and enter the needle with the same tension, because even a slight imbalance leads to stitch defects.
In such cases, long hours of tuning the machine and kilometers of sewn samples will not lead to the desired result - the lines will turn out to be of poor quality. To solve this problem, it is best to purchase creel. It doesn’t matter if it is a sewing accessory bought in a special store, or a holder for 2 coils made in artisanal conditions.
Increasing the length of the thread from the spool to the thread tensioner together with the same speed of unwinding the bobbins will do the trick - the quality of the seams will increase several times without any additional manipulations with the technique.
Installation Rules
In order to install a double needle in a sewing machine, one should be guided by the same rules as in the case of a conventional one:
- Carefully look at the needle bulb, one side of it always has a slight truncation, the so-called scaffold. This design feature allows you to accurately place the needle in the machine. The flat side should always be turned away from the seamstress.
- Make sure that the distance between the blades does not exceed the size of the slot in the working plate.
- Insert the flask into the hole until it stops and tighten the fixing screw.
- Insert the bobbin with wound thread into the shuttle.
- Install 2 spools on the rods and thread them in accordance with the instructions for the machine. In the models, the design of which does not provide paired thread tensioners and thread guides, the threads of both coils are threaded together and only near the needle - the first one goes into the thread guide, and then slips into the hole, the second immediately fits into the hole, bypassing the thread guide.
ATTENTION! When refueling the sewing machine with a double needle installed, the thread from the left bobbin should go into the left blade, and the thread from the right bobbin should be in the right blade, respectively.
How to sew with a double needle
Unfortunately, there is no single algorithm, adhering to which it would be possible to make the sewing equipment to perform perfect stitches the first time. Few of the craftswomen at sewing can immediately tune the machine in the right way, very often it:
- skips stitches;
- breaks the thread;
- pulls together a fabric;
- does not form stitches;
- forms an unaesthetic lower seam.
However, with due diligence, experimenting methodically, you can achieve the perfect result on any sewing machine in which the zigzag option is provided.
ATTENTION!When stitching with a double needle, the thread tension should be minimal. If, when sewing parts with a normal needle, the thread tensioner switch is set to 5-6, then when folding with a double needle, it should be moved to position 1-2.
When working, it is very important not to break the correspondence between:
- fabric thickness;
- needle number;
- thread number.
Even if, when sewing with a single needle, non-observance of these conditions does not lead to noticeable flaws, it is worth installing a double needle on the machine, and all possible defects in the seams will be fully manifested.
Therefore, before starting work, you should:
- make sure that the thread and needle are numbered;
- make sure that the selected type of needle is suitable for sewing this type of fabric;
- check the correct filling of the machine;
- reduce thread tension;
- make a sample.
A high-quality seam made with a double needle is 2 parallel stitches on the front side and a zigzag stitch on the wrong side. In this case, the fabric between the rows of stitches should not be pulled together, and the bobbin thread protrudes outward.
How to perform decorative drawings and decoration
To make decorative stitches, remember that the selected ornament cannot be too wide. The blade moving from side to side should not go beyond the hole in the plate. Otherwise, it will come into contact with the metal and break. To minimize the risk, it is best to choose needles with a small distance between the tips from 1.6 mm to 2.5 mm. Before starting work, check the patency of the needles at idle without threads, slowly rotating the handwheel with your hands.
Sometimes fashion design assumes the presence of assemblies. You can make them using the same double needle. It will be required for this operation:
- needle with a large distance between the tips (5.0-6.0 mm);
- a thin elastic band that should be wound on a bobbin instead of a thread.
Then it remains only to lay a line, wearing rubber will assemble even, neat assemblies.
The presence of a special foot and a double needle in a tandem allow you to carry out a lot of additional operations:
- Sew a cord or thin beads;
- to form pinches.
Rules for safe use
The impact of the tip against a steel plate at best leads simply to bending of the part, and in the worst, to disruption of integrity. At high speed, a fragment of the rod may well bounce off and cause serious injury. Therefore, before starting to sew:
- check the needle and slot in the plate;
- carefully make sure that the machine is set only to a straight line and does not accidentally switch to a zigzag, decorative trim or embroidery.
Always remove pins and stealth before using the machine. Even if they do not touch the rod and do not violate its integrity, they will loosen the rack.
Do not use blunt, much less bent needles. The presence of such defects will inevitably lead to damage.
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