TWIN NEEDLE SEWING how to DIY
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| Left to right 2.0 mm twin needle straight stitch bobbin side up straight stitch twin needle side up (faux coverstitch top) zigzag bobbin side up zigzag twin needle side up The remainder are twin needle side up scallops various sizes of smocking stitch Thread colors on needles are orange and light blue, bobbin is white thread |
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| Twin needle Kenmore 1803 using C cam 29 on satin ribbon, with iron on paper backed basting tape, so the ribbon is not shoved down into the needle opening. |
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| Left to right straight stitch bobbin side up straight stitch twin needle side up zigzag twin needle sewing bobbin side up zigzag twin needle side up The remainder are twin needle side up scallops C cam 9 various sizes of smocking stitch at 3.0 width, with l9nger stitch length adjusted down to 12 stitches per inch Diamond cam bricks or domino cam at buttonhole length. |
Normally, your sewing machine manual, and twin needle packages will tell you which twin needle types to use on your machine, but sometimes, these give incorrect information.
Kenmore manuals, and the Kenmore twin needle packaging I have, give incorrect information about the type of twin needles to use on horizontal bobbin zigzag machines, versus vertical bobbin machines. (This may be why I got such a great price, on a lot of needles!)
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| Package says these 6565 are for horizontal bobbin machines, but they actually are the needles which work in both Kenmore 1755 (center homing vertical bobbin machine) and 1803 (left homing needle vertical bobbin machine) |
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| Kenmore 6565 with black between the centered needle shank and even needle blades are what work in front loading vertical bobbin Kenmore zigzag models. (Are incorrectly labeled for horizontal bobbin models.) The 2 vintage Kenmore twin needles in my photo appear to be 6566 type, but have all gray metal, no color identifier. Kenmore 6566 (are incorrectly labeled for vertical machines), but are probably for horizontal bobbin models. These have blue between the left mounted shank, and left needle blade shorter than right needle blade. |
FAUX COVERSTITCH- to mimic the coverstitch hem like you see on tshirts, twin needles are a way to create the look of a tshirt coverstitch hem on top, using a straight stitch. On the bottom, it will look like a zigzag stitch, or connected z's, depending on your tension settings.
Use ballpoint twin needles, on knits, if you can find them, 2mm in a size 80/12 or 90/14, will work for most knits.
Set spools for upper thread, so they feed opposite directions from each other, to prevent them tangling. Fuzzy thread is not a good idea, it will cause tangling.
RIBBON sewing down is perfectly even, use twin needles slightly narrower than your ribbon. See bottom photo of peasant dress with 1/8" black ribbon stitched perfectly with 2.0 mm twin needle on ruffle.
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| I sewed the straight stitch twin needle faux coverstitch samples, and zigzag twin needle stitch samples, both upside down, and right side up, so you can ser how both the top and bottom look like. Zoom in to see stitch sample better. Schmetz twin needle 2.0mm/80 is a size 12 needle equivalent |
I have done other twin needle blog posts, but one was for Kenmore model 1755, and the other is my post about Designer details on muumuus. I will add photos from those posts, here, as examples of twin needle sewing effects you may want to try!
TIP- SIDE LOADING BOBBIN zigzag sewing machines -
Only vintage Italian made Necchi zigzag machines with side loading bobbins can use twin needle sewing with one needle in front of the other, so it is a different type of twin needle sewing, Supernova and Mira and Nora BU machines can use the 2 needles, but require a special foot, and special needleplate, to do so.
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| Yokes for muumuu dresses was a great twin needle embroidery project |
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| Test each stitchon a scrap, before stitching on your project. This was my scrap of test stitches before embroidering twin needle stitches on my muumuu yokes |
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| Twin needle Kenmore C cam 29 |
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| Twin needle Kenmore C cam 29 on model 1803 |
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| Twin needles are perfect for stitching RIBBON perfectly in place! 2.0 mm twin needle straight stitch on 1/8" black ribbon, also to stitch top of lace |
