
All-Purpose Sewing Thread is a great choice for Beginners.
When you are learning to sew and just starting on your sewing adventures, keep things SIMPLE and choose All-Purpose Sewing Thread for Beginners.
When you are shopping for thread in an actual store, you’ll see that are two to three major thread brands. Each of these brands have their own display cabinet, and all the different types of threads separated in different sections.
Just a reminder this is a SIMPLE sewing site for beginners, and I’ll talk about one type of thread that has many color choices and can be used for different types of fabrics.
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What is ‘All-Purpose’ Thread?
‘All-Purpose’ Thread is a thread type that can be used for a wide variety of projects. You can use this thread for Sewing Apparel, Fabric Crafts and Home Projects.
What is ‘All-Purpose’ Thread made of?
This All-Purpose Thread I’ll be talking about is 100% polyester thread. When you visit a JoAnn’s store, you’ll notice they have two major thread brands and both of the brands have ‘all-purpose’ threads that are 100% polyester.
Coats and Clark brand all-purpose thread is called Dual Duty XP.

Gutermann brand 100% polyester thread is called ‘sew-all’.

A few other well known thread brands are Mettler and Sew-ology. You should also know that there are many great and reliable thread brands available! If you have actually searched: ‘best all-purpose thread’ , you’ll most likely see some brands I haven’t mentioned here. The brands I’ve mentioned are what I’ve sewn with and like them all.
What size needle will work with ‘All-Purpose’ thread?
A good starting point is to choose a 70/11 to 80/12 needle. The needle size is dependent on your fabric and thread choice.
What types of fabrics will work with the ‘All-Purpose’ polyester thread?
All-Purpose thread is suitable for most fabrics. Polyester thread is a a great choice for knits because it has some “give” to it.
The main thread type I’ve used for as long as I’ve been sewing is the 100% polyester ‘All-Purpose’ thread. All you need to do when you are choosing thread is to make sure the thread spool Label says “All-Purpose” and you’ll also see 100% polyester on the label or spool, it’s that SIMPLE! 😀
The cool thing about polyester all-purpose thread is that there are TONS of colors to choose from! You may start to acquire quite a collection and may need to keep track of all the thread colors AND keep all your thread spools organized! Check out a great way to organize your thread and how to make sure you always know what colors you have!
Check out these brand polyester thread selections: Gutermann ‘Sew-All’ Polyester Thread and Dual Duty XP Polyester Thread
A Few Extras About Thread..
–Polyester Thread is also referred to as a ‘General-Purpose’ Thread.
–Polyester Thread can be used for Hand Sewing and Machine Sewing; and in the sewing machine bobbin too!
–Select a color of thread that is a shade darker than the fabric so that after stitching, it will blend with the fabric color.
–If you have a multi-color fabric, choose a color of thread that matches the most prominent color in the fabric.
Polyester Thread is a ‘general-purpose’ thread that works for most sewing needs, just know that there are other general-purpose and specialty thread choices available.
Thanks for reading and Happy Simple Sewing to You!
For any questions about this post you can contact amy@amyssewingstudio.com