What is the proper needle size and thread to sew a poly-cotton broadcloth?
Machine stitches holes in fabric but is not holding a stitch. Will sew a calico fine. Have tried 80/11, 90/14 and 100/16 needles with both cotton and cotton/poly thread at varying tensions!
Any of those should work. BTW, the size is 80/12 -- a size 11 needle is a 75/11, and an 80/12 should sew virtually any garment weight fabric, including poly/cotton broadcloth.
When you say "not holding a stitch", what's actually happening? Is the fabric shredding at the seams? That could be a fabric fault that causes "seam slippage". Are the stitches not forming, or forming improperly? That's usually a user error, typically threading. Are the stitches skipping, looking more like
_ __ _ _____ _ __ ______ instead of _ _ _ or not forming at all? That's typically a needle in backwards problem, damaged needle, or needle too small for the thickness of fabric (which we can rule out in this instance if it's Ye Olde Standard cotton or poly/cotton broadcloth.
More on seam slippage: http://www.amefird.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Minimizing-Seam-Slippage-2-12-10.pdf
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