Give utility stitches a whole new look with twin needle stitching

Yesterday on QUILTsocial we set up my Brother NQ900 sewing machine for stitching with a twin needle. I’ve never used a twin needle before so I’m super excited to see how it works with the variegated thread from WonderFil!

The first stitch that I tried was just a straight stitch, and I LOVE how it looks!! So cute!

The next stitch that I decided to use was the Utility Stitch 14 which is a 3 steps elastic zigzag stitch. As you can see, the LCD screen shows us in the top right-hand corner that twin stitching has been selected and that we should be using the “J” foot.

Look how amazing this stitch looks on the black wool!!

Next, I tried the serpentine stitch. I did one line with the regular stitch settings then did one with the length set to a higher number and one with the width set to a higher number. I really love the middle one! Now I’m thinking about what project I could use THAT one for!!

The next sample shows one of the couching stitches: the bottom line is with the regular machine settings, the middle is done with the width set higher and the top one has the length set higher. They’re all pretty fun too!

So, what happens when you select a stitch that isn’t compatible with the twin needle?? The machine beeps and you get this warning on the LCD screen.

Note: As I mentioned yesterday, you can’t use the automatic threader with the twin needle. The other thing you can’t do is use the needle down feature to pivot your fabric!

Here are some of the hemstitching stitches available on the NQ900. And here’s a good reason to do a stitch sample before using it on your actual project. The top and bottom lines of stitching were done using the standard settings on the machine and the second row was done with the length and width settings increased. As you can see, the stitch has been totally distorted.

These hemstitching samples remind me of zippers!

Note: If you break the thread on your left-hand needle, it’s a good idea to re-thread BOTH needles from scratch so that the left top thread is threaded first and then the right top thread following the directions I shared yesterday. This prevents the threads from getting tangled up.

OK – I have to say that I LOVE the top line of stitching that was done using the twin needles – how cute would that be as the detail on a wool project?

Well, I think I’m hooked on stitching with a twin needle!

This week I’ve really enjoyed learning about more of the great features of my NQ900 especially the My Custom Stitch^TM Feature and twin needle sewing. Thanks for joining me – see you next time!