Thread

thred, a strong, firm yarn used for sewing. The manufacturers distinguish between yarn and thread, holding that thread is composed of two or more strands twisted together. Natural fibers, as of flax, hemp, agave, and palm leaves, have been used in sewing from antiquity. The Iroquois squaw obtained threads for her moccasins by dividing the sinews of a deer finely. The Chippewa Indian obtained material to bind the seams of his birch-bark canoe by splitting up the long roots of the spruce.

The making of ordinary sewing thread is as old as the art of spinning. It is made of various materials, cotton, silk, and flax being the more important. Of these, cotton ranks first. The fibres are hollow, flat, and wavy. They do not slip. The long fiber of Sea Island cotton is best. The present cotton thread industry originated at Paisley, Scotland. The occasion is of interest. Paisley had been noted for its textile manufactures for many years. At the time of the Napoleonic wars the finest fabrics in the world were being made here. When the French captured Hamburg the supplies of silk were cut off from Great Britain, and the Paisley mills were obliged to close for lack of material. The Clark Brothers at that time were manufacturers of silk heddle twine for the weavers, and the elder member of the firm, Peter Clark, succeeded in making a substitute for silk thread from cotton. This was the origin of spool cotton. Paisley is still the center of the thread industry. Clark's thread is sold all over the world.

In the manufacture of thread, the cotton is carded and combed and spun into the form of yarn, which is sized to add strength and consistency. This yarn is doubled and twisted; three doubled yarns are now twisted together for six-cord thread; for three-cord thread, three of the original yarns are twisted together. The thread is then bleached and wound ready for marketing. When first placed on the market, thread was sold in small skeins or hanks tied up carefully to prevent tangling. Linen thread may still be had in hanks. The harnessmaker's linen thread is sold usually in balls. The threadmaker soon learned, however, to wind his thread on wooden spools. Spool making is an important industry in Maine. New England makes 1,600,000,000 spools, worth $2,000,000, yearly.

The manufacture of cotton thread in America began in 1797. American mills now make many million dollars' worth of thread yearly. The American Thread Company, with a capital of $11,000,000, controls the industry. Ireland is headquarters for linen thread. Linen thread is stronger than cotton. Silk is used for sewing upon silken fabrics. The soft silken thread used for embroidery is known as floss. The size of a thread is designated by a number. Number eight is a very coarse thread. Three hundred is an exceedingly fine thread.

See Needle; Sewing Machine; Lace; Spinning; Embroidery; Spool