Aurifil Natural Threads, Collections and Kits from Italy

Perfectly suited for every quilt project. Aurifil Thread, from Milan Italy, started out as cotton machine embroidery thread, but quilters quickly discovered that Aurifil Mako Cotton Thread was ideal for piecing and quilting. Coming to the US from Italy in 2007, Aurifil has quickly become the gold standard in 100% long staple Egyptian cotton quilting thread. Offering 12wt, 28wt, 40wt, 50wt and 80wt, Aurifil offers both professional and home quilters the perfect thread color and type regardless of your need. Aurifil's Eqyptian cotton is grown in the MAKO region of Egypt, on the river Nile. The production process is based in Milan, where the thread undergoes 15 stringent steps before it becomes a ready for use spool.

Aurifil’s 50wt thread is our most versatile and most popular Cotton thread and is wound on our iconic orange spool. The 50wt is strong and thin, and results in remarkably flat and crisp seams. While it is wonderful for piecing, subtle quilting & topstitching, and English Paper Piecing it also works incredibly well for Needle Turn Applique, Bobbin and Machine Lace, Machine Applique (Straight Stitch, ZigZag, Blind Hem and Blanket Stitch,) Machine Embroidery, Dense Machine Quilting, Subtle Machine and Longarm Quilting, Basting, Whole Cloth and Micro Quilting, and Dense Background Designs.

Aurifil is 100% Egyptian Cotton, grown in the Mako region of Egypt along the river Nile. When considering the unique qualities of cotton, it’s easy to make a comparison to wine; different geographic regions offer different attributes to the raw material. Aurifil thread is "long staple", which refers to the length of the fibers in the raw cotton boll. The length of the fibers determines the quality and strength of the cotton.

Long staple is at least 1.25" long and extra long staple is a minimum of 1.375" long. Alex Veronelli confirms that Aurifil staples are 1.40" long and could be referred to as extra long staple.

Although the cotton is grown in Egypt, the thread is manufactured in our warehouse in Milan, Italy. It takes 15 steps to transform raw material into a spool of thread. We manufacture and produce three types of thread: wool/acrylic blend, monofilament, and six different weights of cotton. Visit our Shop Resource Page to learn more about our thread weights and check out our care instructions for more info on how to care for your threads. Now, let’s talk production!

Step 1. SPINNING This is where it all begins… the first step of the journey to transform raw material into a spool of Aurifil thread. We like to call it the ‘secret step’, but are giving you the inside scoop today! Spinning transforms the natural cotton bolls (or cotton staples) into single strands of cotton. It consists of a series of steps like ginning, combing, & carding and is unique for each weight of thread. The process itself is key, but the specific details of what we do and how we do it remain a secret -- like our secret sauce that sets us apart from the competition!

Step 2. DOUBLING Once spinning is complete, the giant (36"-40") thread bobbins are loaded on the doubling machine to start the next phase, which takes 2 (or 3) individual strands of spun cotton and rewinds them side by side (parallel) onto a reel (or Rochee) to prepare for twisting. During this step, any lint produced is removed by a continuous jet of air… constantly working toward reducing thread lint in your sewing machine!
It’s interesting to note that the machine is called a ‘doubling’ machine independent of the number of plies it combines. In Italian, it’s called ‘Binatrici’, something more similar to a ‘combining’ machine.
Aurifil threads are mostly 2 ply as we’ve found it to be ideal for maintaining crisp flat seams and well-defined quilting lines with our beloved and modern sewing machines. However, in 2017 we introduced our first 40wt 3 ply thread (FORTY3) specifically designed for use in longarm machines.

Step 3. TWISTING Next, the thread goes through the twisting phase, during which the strands of cotton are twisted to a predetermined ‘twist per inch’. It enables multiple strands to act as a single 2 or 3 ply thread, which is fundamental to increase cohesion and strength. The number of twists per inch is decided by the manufacturer and it’s very important to keep this proportion consistent as it has an impact on the performance of the thread. It takes 4 hours to twist 1kg of thread.
The twisting process is done slowly to ensure ultimate quality and accuracy of the number of twists per inch. We hope that this informational series reaffirms that Aurifil favors quality over quantity. All of our machines run a bit slower than average to ensure maximum quality, executing every process in the best way possible.
It’s fun to note that when spun, quilting, embroidery, and sewing strands are twisted in an "S" (Left or Clockwise) direction. When combining multiple strands/plies the threads are twisted in a "Z" (Right or Counterclockwise) direction.

Step 4. THERMO FASTENING Once the twisting is done, the reels are ready for thermo fastening, a 22 minute steam bath that sets or fixes the twist on the threads so that the strands and twists do not separate. All thread weights are treated to the same steam bath! These are the first 4 steps of the journey from raw material to 1 spool of thread. Stay tuned for next week’s installment and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Step 5. SINGEING Once the thread has been doubled, twisted, and thermo-fastened, it’ll go in the singeing machine. During this step, the thread slowly unwinds from a reel placed at the bottom of the machine and is passed by a naked flame. This procedure removes excess fibers from the thread and is instrumental in creating a product with minimal lint. Aurifil users already appreciate how important this step is to the process!

Step 6. REELING The reeling phase is the transformation of the reels into skeins. 1 Reel or Giant Cone will result in 2 skeins. We do this procedure before dying because the colours are better fixed when on a skein than on a reel.
After the thread is put on the skein and the machine stops, a worker manually ties the skein in 3 points with a polyester thread to make sure the thread is secure. Why? Because polyester is not affected by the following steps including mercerization, dying, and drying. Accuracy of this step is of the utmost importance because if the worker makes a mistake, the entire skein must be trashed. There is a red light on the machine that detects the human presence so if there is a worker the machine stops. Safety is key for Aurifil.

LAB Lab processing ensures quality and continuity between dye lots processed with various crops. Each of the 270 Aurifil colors have a unique ‘recipe’ that includes dye colors and amounts, water amounts & temperature, and dying time. The department ensures that every time we dye the thread with a specific color we use a compound that is the result of that unique recipe. Remember that cotton is a natural fiber. Each and every harvest may be different from the previous year’s harvest, with varying levels of sunlight absorbed during the year, changes in heat, humidity, or rain levels… Before dying a large quantity of thread, the lab will dye a few yards of each crop to confirm that the result matches the color card, adjusting the recipe as needed. There is a dedicated desk where the thread is tested under different lights: blue, yellow, red and green. If it’s the same under every light then we may proceed.
Fun fact: Most colors take about 4 hours to dye except for black, which takes double that time!

Step 7. MERCERIZATION Mercerization is a very fast process, taking only one minute to complete, but also one of the most important. The skeins of thread are processed in a caustic soda bath which modifies the organic composition of the cotton to make it stronger and increase the sheen, resistance, and brilliance. It is completely automated and executed in enclosed units to minimize human exposure to the corrosive materials used. At the end of the process, the thread is washed with sodium hydroxide to remove all the dead cotton cells.
It's important to note that this soda bath doesn't affect the safety of the end product. Aurifil is OekoTex Certified, which means that it is free of harmful chemicals and completely safe for human use or consumption (but... we don't recommend actually eating the thread!)
Note: While the machine is built to hold 6 skeins, we generally upload only 4 so that the thread lays flat and the skeins don’t overlap. The overall high quality is always more important than producing a larger quantity of thread in a shorter time.

Step 8. DYEING After mercerization, the skeins are placed on arms and inserted into large dyeing wardrobes. Our biggest wardrobe can hold 320kgs (640 skeins) and the smallest holds 40kgs (80 skeins). Here, liquid dye is shot onto the skeins. Preparation and application of the dye is automated and the prepared dye ‘recipe’ travels through pipes to the wardrobe. Dying time is color dependent and varies from 4 to 8 hours.

Step 9. DRYING Once dyed, the skeins are removed from the wardrobes and transported to the dryers. Skeins of different colors can be placed on adjacent hangers without risk of colour bleeding as the dye is now fixed on the cotton. The drying process is intentionally slow, approximately 9-12 hours, using low temperatures to maintain a high quality result. This step is often completed overnight so that when the workers arrive in the morning, the skeins are dry and ready for the next phase.

Step 10. UNWINDING In this next step, the skeins of thread are unwound and put back on the reels. Two skeins of 500 grams are put together to obtain a unique reel of 1 kg. There is one textile (aka fisherman’s) knot hand tied and trimmed in each reel which results in 1 knot per 33 large spools of Aurifil 50wt thread. The knots are small and should not cause issue with sewing or quilting. Stay tuned to discover what’s next on the journey from raw material to 1 spool of thread. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway

Answers to Aurifil's Top FAQ Thread Troubleshooting