Not knotted-looped. Which is why one can sometimes idly pull on an innocent looking loose thread and Hey Presto! your clothes fall apart in an instant. Try it next time you're behind some ugly person (if they have a loose thread) in the supermarket or a bar or.......then run.

That's the issue I cannot comprehend...it's magic.

Does this help?

No, it's worse.

Pretty though.

I would like it to go a bit faster and to get to the end of the seam

No, now it does make sense, because the thread is looping behind the little spool under the fabric, so there actually is a knot, .... and you can't usually tug on a loose thread and unpick the entire seem with one good yank.

The top thread and the bobbin thread interlock around the fabric to create the stitch. There is no knot. If the tension between the top thread and bobbin thread is correct, you cannot pull the seam out. You have to use an unpicker. If the tension is off, you get big loops on one side of the seam and the thread on the other side can be pulled out.

This is why I love BE. Where else could we find detailed, free immigration advice and knowledge of the inner workings of sewing machines all in one place, with a bunch of crap about pies and tea thrown in?

It's like having a Home Economics class at a pub quiz, in an embassy

Sorry, I know there is no true "knot", I meant that the two threads are truly wrapped one around the other, which would not be possible if both ends of both threads were anchored.

The irony is, that barely scratches the surface: there's cars, and sport, English grammar and usage, cooking, film reviews, and gardening too, among many other things. ...... It's like reading the Saturday Daily Telegraph in a Home Economics class at a pub quiz, in an embassy.

Yes, this is true.

We're a well rounded bunch, I'd say

Speak for yourself, .... and Nutek, apparently.

Cheeky git ...

Husky.