It's not always a good idea to clip a loose thread. If it's a stray which was tied off or secured into another seam it might be fine, but loose threads from unraveling may be the only thing stopping the remaining thread from unraveling more. Clipping it in that case will make it easier for the rest to slip out.
But if you can't clip it, how do you get rid of it?
Sew it back in.
The thread doesn't have to go to the needle if the needle is easier to control.
You can thread a surprisingly short thread into a needle if you don't particularly care where it goes, which in this case is anywhere within the fabric. Push the needle through where you want, inserting as close ot the base of the thread as possible, and use a larger one than you would normally. If you angle it right you can poke the thread into the eye right before it enters the fabric, allowing for catching even a couple mm of thread. It doesn't matter if you have a slightly large needle because it's only going in once, so you can smooth out the hole easily.
The knowledge that you can actually contain any and all loose threads, even the nubbins, had me on a spree for a good few weeks, randomly noticing something loose in a shirt and pulling out a needle to tuck it away. But loose threads are almost entirely static, from whatever the creator left behind. There's only so many ends. It takes much longer for even a poorly made piece to start wearing through the seams, and if you've done it properly the old ones won't come back.
You can finish them all off.
That's true of surprisingly few things.
- Rew
Nightly Notes
Minor sewing repairs is high on my list of underrated practical skills which require little effort or skill. Seriously, dealing with loose threads is the easiest possible skill to pick up, it does not matter how you sew them in
Great excuse to waste an evening on the couch.
- Rew