Bobbin Basics
#32
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1,669
I tried winding over existing thread---once. That one time was enough. Thread tangled and I lost all the thread on the bottom. Now I just run them out when I'm piecing or I use them as a thread source for handwork. froggyintexas
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Posts: 857
Don't know if modern computerized machines are more finicky, but in prehistoric times, when I was growing up, we only had like 3 bobbins. We always were winding on top of existing thread and it worked just fine. Also, we had 1 needle size & type and only changed it if it broke. You can always just put it on the thread spindle & use it for the top thread for piecing if you want to run it out.
#36
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 4,688
I have always wound a new color on top of a bobbin of a different color if I don't have an empty bobbin. The other thing we used to do is hand wind the old color back on the spool. I too grew up having only a few needles, a few bobbins and thread was precious.
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Philomath,Ore
Posts: 499
I used to do this all the time when I was a whole lot younger and sewing clothes. I have a gazillion bobbins now and haven't done that since I started quilting 18 years ago. I think it's a great idea to use the partial bobbins for piecing, I had not thought of that.
#38
Super Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,391
That is exactly right. When a spool runs out it makes a huge thread nest, etc. That's why I try to take off the spool when it is almost empty and put that small amount onto a bobbin and use it up there.
#39
I have wound over threads on a bobbin in the past and with my older machines, it didnt seem to matter. My mother always did that on our old Singer. I tried it once on my newer machine and .. nope.. not gonna do it again. Tension problems galore. I then used a different bobbin, full with just the one thread and it worked fine. So no over the old winding fore me
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