Bobbin Basics
#21
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Van. Island, BC
Posts: 1,425
Penny,
I had the same problem, using 3 different machines. I put a dab of nail polish on my machine and matching bobbins. 3 machines= 3 different color nail polishes. A tip I read on this site. No more guessing which bobbin goes where.
I had the same problem, using 3 different machines. I put a dab of nail polish on my machine and matching bobbins. 3 machines= 3 different color nail polishes. A tip I read on this site. No more guessing which bobbin goes where.
#22
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,066
I just bought a new machine and the technician told me not to wind over thread on a bobbin. Would have thought maybe he was trying to sell me more bobbins but along with the 6 originals that came with the machine he gave me a box of 12 more free. Guess I just don't want to take a chance of something happening. He must have run into this problem or I'm thinking he wouldn't have mentioned it.
I used to wind thread on top of thread. But, when you come to the end of the top layer of thread, there's a tangle -- no big deal, right? Then I became a sewing machine mechanic. Now, I know what a tangle of thread can do to a sewing machine. When thread tangles, it pulls the needle into the hook and damages it. Tangles can also pull the needle into the needle plate, break the needle, and even knock the timing out. So I never wind thread on top of thread any more. It's just a little thing I do to take care of my sewing machines. I pull the thread off and put it in a jar, and it adds a spot of color to my sewing room. I currently work with about 30 bobbins -- 10 for polyester threads and 20 for cotton threads.
#23
Super Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,391
I would never put a bobbin on the top thread spindle. When the bottom bobbin thread runs out, it just stops sewing. When the top thread runs out, it make a huge thread nest, very hard to pick out. Also hard on your machine.
#25
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Corpus Christi, Tx.
Posts: 16,105
I do this also. When I got my 401 there were a lot of bobbins with thread left. I used some for mending and basting hexies, etc. Both of my machines take a 66. There are a couple bobbins that aren't so those go in my hexie go bag.
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Heart of Colorado's majestic mountains!
Posts: 6,026
OK, if you wind a new color on top of another color, how do you get to that first color if you do want to use it? The other extreme is having a bobbin for every color of thread and some means of keeping them together. I like to have just a few bobbins and keep them clear. Sometimes I wind leftover thread back onto the spool if it is a color that I only use once in a while-I can use it to hand sew or wind it back on the bobbin if the task is bigger. I also use it for piecing when the color doesn't matter, which is most of the time.
#28
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,666
I have used bobbin thread as a top thread. For me, when it runs out, it is the same as when it runs out off a spool.
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