ideal thread size for SUL fabrics

[teepee]

There is a great, albeit quite old, thread over at https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...-clarification regarding Gutermann's line in particular. While I personally also use gutermann's industrial products from the Tera and Mara lines, this question is more general. I'm sewing tarps and garments out of the lightest fabrics i can find, eg sub-one-ounce stuff from RBTR and similar, and wondering absent concerns like availability, what thread to use.

These fabrics are ~7denier construction (LESS than Tex-1). What is the ideal diameter of poly thread to use?

Some common threads, such as Tera80 are in the TEX30's. Others, such as Tera180 are half that in the ~TEX15 ish. If i look at garment construction elsewhere (outside MYOG) the thinner would definitely be preferred. The TEX16 Tera180 thread is already ~20x the thickness of the fabric thread itself.

How to choose? I know most folks will say Tera80 due to availability, but at ~10 spool qty that becomes pretty moot. What is ideal?

Thanks!

[cmc4free]

This is a good question. I own a few quilts that are made with 7D shells. One from Loco Libre that's made with Membrane 7 from RBTR, and one from Enlightened Equipment that's made with their 7D (source unknown - to me). I've never made anything with fabric that light, myself.

My first inclination would be to use Tera80, but that might be overkill for size/strength depending on what you're making with the fabric. I'll be interested to see if anybody with experience using that fabric for various purposes will chime in.

[mab0852]

You can get Tera 420 (Tex 8), but I think that would be a total pain to sew with. I've never used less than 100 in the various Gutemann lines and haven't had any problems yet. I think your needle and stitch length are probably more critical than the thread for UL fabrics. I would suggest calling one of the cottage quilt vendors, Goose Feet Gear, or even Dutch. I'm sure they would share their preferred thread/needle combo for UL fabrics. I just think at a certain point the lighter thread and subsequently smaller more delicate needle are going to be the weak point, not in use, but during construction. Like I said, I probably wouldn't go lighter than Mara 100 or Tera 80 for my projects.

[hutzelbein]

I have used Tera 80 on thinner fabrics with good success. It's fairly thin and smooth but still strong. If the seams are not loaded, you can also use everyday thread sizes like Gütermann Sew-All.