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Growing History of Sewing Thread

Thread is a common, subtle, twisty element. It should have considerable length with a marginal thickness which is made from raw cotton, wool, silk, yarn, linen, fiber, jute or, other substance formed of fibers or able to be spun or bamboo (organic thread) or other synthetic filaments with a cut edge in the cross section. Precise manner we can say, yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibers, linen, cotton, or other material by a spinning wheel to prepare long strands known as yarn. Thread is used to stitch and to sew fabric and other objects.

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Primeval era sewing threads were made out of animal hides by cutting them into thin strips; however, civilization improvements brought modifications in threads. Egyptians were efficient in making threads from plant fibers and wool and hair from tamed/pet animals. At that time threads were hand spun using spindles. Even Egyptian queen Cleopatra wore the premium cotton grown in the Egyptian Nile Valley. Some scientists found 7000 years old cotton wearer from Mexico.
Cotton thread was first spun by machinery in England in 1730 and from then on it spread quickly like a wildfire around the world, thanks to the British Colonies. Cotton threads are built of the cellulose from plants and are used to stitch fabrics like rayon, linen, and cotton those also have plant origins. Plant-based fabrics may shrink, and the cotton thread has the same shrinkage attributes.
Embroidery process was invented about 1600 BC to 1100 BC by the Babylonians and the Assyrians. In 350 BC the queen of Emperor HoangTi, China was thriving in spinning great glossy silk threads out of silk cocoon. The Chinese and Japanese first discovered the beauties of silk fibers spun as thread and transform as cloth. Chinese
emperor kept the secret method very long time around their country but in the 5th
Century AD, two priests were able to know the secret way and take the secret outside China to Rome with carefully. From there it expands across the world.
Sewing machine stitches fabrics and other materials together with thread. The sewing machine was invented during the first Industrial Revolution; however, the most improved, efficient and productive but price flexible industrial sewing machine was designed by an English man named Thomas Saint in 1970.
Yarns and fabric from viscose art silk came in 1894. In 1913 German Chemists manufactured textile fibers from Vinyl Chloride. First artificial textile fiber from polyvinyl-chloride was spun by 1931 Heinrich Papst, Hermann Hecht and Emil Hubert in 1931. This progress was marked as the year of birth of synthetic fibers.
In 1884, first time synthetic silk invented by Earl Hilaire de from solute cellulose. But the first industrial artificial silk was produced in 1891. The term “synthetic Silk” was renamed as “Rayon” in 1924.

British chemists J. R. Whinfield and J.T. Dickson were originated Polyester fibers in 1941. But actually, Polyester threads launched its production from 1955. These artificial threads had greater mechanical advancement in than silk threads and in the 1970s artificial threads became more admired in comparison to silk threads cause silk were also costlier than synthetic fibers. Polyester and nylon threads are preferred for synthetics and stretch knits. Both types of synthetic threads have the same attributes including high strength, no shrinkage, and excellent abilities to stretch and regain that make them appropriate for knits, sheers, and preshrunk fabrics. Polyester and nylon are the only threads that can be done from a single ply or single yarn.

But even today, natural silk has great appeal and usually used widely for making high-quality wearer for fashion conscious people.
Coats, American and Efird (A & E) are two largest thread manufacturers in the world and produce a quality full immense quantity of thread with thousands of colors. These two thread manufacturers doing business by setting up thread industry in the several places of the world to meet apparel industries demand.Sewing threads are specially designed yarn which is able to perform stitches quickly and efficiently. Sewing threads should form stable, uniform seams and fine stitches.
Sewing threads must have the following features:
(1) Color fastness
(2) Shade matching
(3) Right stitch formation etc.
Sewing threads must have sufficient longevity, abrasion to resistance, elasticity, color fastness etc. And must endure needle heat, chemical and physical forces of garment care thread flaw leads to skipped stitches, thread breakage, uneven stitches, seam puckering etc. Sew-ability of sewing thread depends on right loop formation and resistance to thread breakage. Sewing threads are manufactured from cotton, polyester, nylon, and rayon. Silk threads find application in high-quality garments.
Linen finds application in shoe making. Cotton, rayon, and silk have lower tenacity and elasticity, but they quickly dye with a wide variety of colors and possess excellent sew-ability.
Cotton sewing threads: Previously it was the most favorite sewing threads. But because of low strength, poor elasticity and low abrasion resistance it has lost its place to polyester threads. Cotton threads are vulnerable to breakage and also higher in price. It has higher shrinkage value leading to seam pucker but cotton threads are familiar to all as an environment-friendly item.
Polyester and Nylon
Sewing threads:
These are strong threads and possess high tenacity and abrasion resistance. They attain high seam strength in comparison to comparable cotton threads.

Nylon threads have higher elongation that is vulnerable to skip stitches and seam puckering. Synthetic threads are more compatible with comparable fabrics. Nowadays polyester threads have become more popular and versatile

Special Sewing Threads: Beside this there are some threads which make special requirements from special fibers. So they use special fibers to cater to the individual needs. Some particular thread is also treated after spinning and depending on its use. Metallic thread is used for decoration but it is sensitive to heat and steam and must be handled with care. Garments made of fabric treated with water repellent are also sewn with treated thread. Aramid threads, Gore-Tex, Aluminum thread, Carbon thread, surgical thread are examples.

Thread also can be made of various amalgamations of fiber. Thread with a core of polyester and an external wrap of cotton, rayon or spun polyester combines the attributes of both fibers, with the outer fiber creating the appearance or finish of the thread.

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