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Give utility stitches a whole new look with twin needle stitching

by Christine Baker

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 NQ900 sewing machine is all set up for twin needle stitching.

The NQ900 set up for twin needle stitching

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

The straight stitch with a twin needle on the NQ900 sewing machine.

Straight stitch

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.

The settings for the 3 steps elastic zigzag stitch on the NQ900 sewing machine.

3 steps elastic zigzag stitch

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

The NQ900 3 steps elastic zigzag stitch with the twin needle on black wool.

3 steps elastic zigzag stitch with the twin needle

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!!

Three different versions of the serpentine stitch on the NQ900, stitched with a twin needle.

Serpentine stitch

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!

Three different versions of the couching stitch on the NQ900, stitched with a twin needle.

Couching stitch

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.

The warning that shows on the LCD screen of the NQ900 when the stitch selected is not compatible with the twin needle.

Twin needle warning

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.

Three different versions of hemstitching stitch on the NQ900, stitched with a twin needle.

Hemstitching (cross stitch version)

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.

Three different versions of hemstitching stitch on the NQ900, stitched with a twin needle.

Hemstitching (zipper look)

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?

Miscellaneous utility stitches on the NQ900, stitched with a twin needle.

Miscellaneous utility stitches

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

The NQ900 sewing machine from Brother.

The NQ900

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

This is part 5 of 5 in this series.
Go back to part 4: The ins and outs of using a twin needle in the NQ900

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1 comment

Jean April 3, 2018 - 6:16 pm

Such colorful options. Everyone should try this.

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