The Sewing Place
Tools of the Trade => The Haberdashery => Topic started by: Diane on February 20, 2022, 14:49:57 PM
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Does anyone use prewound bobbins? Do you use a specific thread for the bobbin?
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Unless I'm using a specific topstitching thread, I always use the same thread top and bottom.
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I would only use pre wound bobbins in an embroidery machines, I am sure other people might use them for other things.
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@Celia I've just been reading up on pre wound bobbins and I think your right, best avoid those and just wind as i go.
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I always use the same thread in my bobbin unless I want a particular top thread. I would never use pre-wound bobbins.
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Depending on what I'm doing I generally wind two bobbins with the colour I'm using, unless it's something where what is at the bottom doesn't really matter. I'm still using a Sidewinder though, I bought it around 2009 prior to selling my old Janome because it refused to wind a bobbin.
I don't think I could use pre-wound threads as Pfaff is a bit sniffy about what goes in, all the machines have a specific bobbin.
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I never use pre wounds. Not even for embroidery. I wind a load of bobbins with embroidery bobbin thread at one time so I’ve always got a box of them ready to use.
For dressmaking etc I wind what I need.
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As I only use 2 colours of thread ( mid grey and light cream ) I wind 6 bobbins of each at a time. My machine doesn't like Guttermans so I usually use King Tut
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Yes, I generally only use pre-wound bobbins. I rarely wind a bobbin these days as it’s too faffy.
Bought a box of 150 white thread filled bobbins and they’ve lasted me ages and I use them for most projects.
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Hi there @Diane .... I recently ordered a few prewounds for Elvistoo from Doris Darby and used one the other day. I was delighted with it and will be ordering more when my few (15) are coming to an end.
Prewounds usually have a lot more thread on them and are wound at optimum tension and so far have stitched beautifully,
Ive never thought about using them in The Splurgess, I think embroidery thread and piecing thread are two very fifferent animals which could I expect cause problems.
Maybe you can get Prewound cotton bobbins???
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@Iminei Wound with cotton thread? Is embroidery thread different? I’ll have to investigate and see if there are different types of wound bobbins
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Very different.
As far as I know my embroidery threads (Madeira) are Rayon ... some ET can be polyester but they have a tendency to melt under a hot iron ....
Piecing and Quilting threads are cotton, but different weights (thicknesses)
100 for piecing and 60 or 40 (which are thicker) for quilting
Embroidery thread is very fine and not (I think) as strong ... which is useful when embroidering designs where the needle makes lots of passes ... if they did that with cotton you would soon end up with a right mess.
This is only what I have come to know through using Elvistoo ... Im sure there are far more learned heads here who can confirm and explain further!
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I currently use Guttermann sew all thread for everything. I didn’t realise that there was different thread for quilting :faints:
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Its just thicker so shows up the stitches more.
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Don’t tell the dark side quilters but a lot of people use the same as you :faints:.
Just do not use Rayon embroidery thread to sew anything you want to stay together I have seen the results a few times, not pretty.
The tradition for using cotton thread is so that if there is any strain on the quilt the thread will break and the fabric will not rip, wether this is true I don’t know especially as the modern threads are so different.
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So ladies and gents, what brand of thread do you use for clothing? And what brand for quilting?
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Gutermann Sew-All for clothes and piecing of quilts, anything that's described as Quilting Thread for quilting, generally Superior or YLI.
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I use Gutermann Sew All all the time but then I am dressmaking and not quilting. Also I prefer the Gutermann thread as it is consistently good and certainly less hairy than some other brands. By the way our machinery is often very expensive and it really does pay to only use decent thread and certainly decent bobbins that are specifically made for your particular machine. There is always a chance when using something other than say own brand bobbins that you get one that is slightly out of line with something or other and this could cause problems within your expensive machine, and thus could invalidate your guarantee. The same applies to using feet that are not specifically made for your machine.
Back in my school days the only thread around was either Sylko or Coates and these were mainly available in a size 40 thread. Occasionally you could get a 50 in the Sylko. These were much thicker threads than those we use today.
I also prefer to use a good branded overlocking thread, I dislike Moon thread as it is too hairy, however the thread I loved was a Belgian thread which was discontinued years ago and I then found one by Amann (Mettler Group) but I find getting that now is also difficult.
Due to the amount of work we push through our various machines, they do deserve to have the decent thread. Back last year I was doing a lot of scalloping using Gutermann thread, and when I had finished the amount of debris and dust around the needle area on the machine was very noticeable and shocked me, if it was like that on top of the needleplate, what was happening underneath.
By the way it is the same with needles, Schmetz are the very best, and if you cannot get these then get the needles that came with your machine - there are far too many cheapy needles around and it is not worth the risk of damaging your machine.
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I use gutermann sew all for clothes - extra fine for lightweight fabrics. I have a few old reels of sylko mercerised cotton and they're lovely to use when the fabric and colour suit - one is the absolutely perfect red which gutermann simply does not do - I save that one for where it will be on view. The gutermann cotton is not nearly as supple and my machine doesn't like it at all.
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I use Gutermann for clothing and Mettler or Aurifil for quilting. I must try YLI sometime.
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I've always used gutermann sew easy and never had any issues, there seems to be very little fluff in the bobbin area whenever i clean it out. I also use the schmetz needle all of the time, i don't buy any other brand.
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YLI, Superior, King Tut, Aurifil.
I can't make garments :(
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I always wind my own. Pfaff bobbins are different to the standard ones so I don't think pre-wound ones would be available. I use Madeira bobbinfil for embroidery, I have black & white & wind several bobbins at a time. The thread is much thinner than standard. For clothing projects I like to exactly match the thread so wind a bobbin at the beginning. I have some Moon thread and some unbranded cones (from before I knew better) which I use on the overlocker. It is fluffy & when these run out I'll replace them with branded ones. I have a lot of the Lidl ones, some are good but others are uneven & fluffy & of course you can't tell when they're wrapped in plastic. The overlocker is fine with them but I wouldn't use them on the machine. The Euphoria coverstitch stitches fine with them though, which surprised me. @Elnnina I agree, machines cost thousands, why scrimp with cheap thread & needles.
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I don’t think I would risk pre-wound or even generic bobbins in my machine. I only use Gutermann Sew-All or Mettler Seralon on my sewing machine but I use all makes of thread on my overlock and coverstitch machines without any problems.
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I nearly always use pre-wounds in the embroidery machine, they are great!
For ordinary sewing, overlocking and coverstitiching I use Moon threads, work fine for me, and sooo much cheaper. I buy them in fours as I do so much on the overlocker.
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I am with @Acorn, Gutermann Sew-All for clothes and piecing of quilts. For quilting it varies according to teh effect I want but usually a cotton. For arty/pictorial stuff whatever is around.
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I use various Gutermann running from 30 (top stitching) weight up to up Tera 180 for overlocking and the coverstitch. Most of my colours are in Sew All 100 and Mara 120 and Toldilock 120. I discovered recently that Sew All can be obtained in 1000m reels so I've bought some of them.
I've sort of worked up from fabric, pattern and one reel of thread. :laughing: Only time I've had trouble was with a job lot of Mara that included some Coats, which when I tried I had 5 minutes of hell and clanking before I realised what was wrong.
Best to find out what your machine likes and stick to it although some machines are not fussy what goes under the foot, my Bernina overlocker is like that.
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Back to the pre-wound bobbins.
If anyone has a machine which uses style F bobbins - a few older Brother, Consew, Juki and Singer models - I have 3/4 of a box of white and 7/8 box of black bobbins pre-wound with 3-cord soft cotton thread. Yours for the asking, they were rescued from the skip about 15 years ago. Full boxes contained half a gross = 72 for the youngsters who don't remember pre-decimal currency.
Check which machines can use them here (https://www.thethreadexchange.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=sewing-machine-bobbin-style-info)
More info about pre-wound bobbind here. (https://www.thethreadexchange.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TTE&Category_Code=prewound-bobbin-information)
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I only do garment and some household sewing. Gutermann or Coates are best but I find I can often get away with cheaper Moon or overlocker thread. If I were sewing a really posh garment I would go for the better thread but for a cotton top the cheap stuff is usually fine I've never used pre-wound bobbins.
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I've ended up with Some Coated Drima thread from MIL's small stash and it's awful. I'm pretty sure it was better in the past.
Am I the one who finds the couple of minutes spent bobbin winding to be quite soothing?
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No you're not @Ouryve . :thumb: I quite like winding bobbins too. In any case, pre-wound bobbins are not an option on my Bernina, and they're huge bobbins so hold an awful lot of thread, and don't need winding very often. The machine has a separate motor for winding so I can always wind mid-project with no problem. :) Just wish I could get back to sewing - I wouldn't mind winding hundreds of bobbins if it would help. :headbang:
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I've ended up with Some Coated Drima thread from MIL's small stash and it's awful. I'm pretty sure it was better in the past.
Am I the one who finds the couple of minutes spent bobbin winding to be quite soothing?
You are not alone, I love winding bobbins, it is therapeutic :)
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I've ended up with Some Coated Drima thread from MIL's small stash and it's awful. I'm pretty sure it was better in the past.
@Ouryve
There was a time when Drima thread was only two ply and yes it was awful and kept snapping. It wasn't until I really started looking into lacemaking threads in depth that I realised that all other brands of 'ordinary' sewing machine thread is three ply and so surely that had to be the reason those little spools of Drima were so bad.
BTW, machine embroidery threads are 2 ply but they are made for covering/spreading qualities not strength.
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While we're talking about bobbins, since my Husqvarna Viking Topaz 25 was serviced it only winds about 2/3 of the thread onto the bobbin compared to before servicing. I can see that something has probably been tightened too much - the thing that detects when the bobbin is full I suppose.
Does anyone know if there is anything I can do about this? I am tempted to buy a separate bobbin winder, since if I have to go back to the company who serviced it I will have to pay £25 each way for the courier.
So, second question, can anyone recommend a separate bobbin winder?
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@Acorn the only bobbin winder I knew of wouldn’t wind Husqvarna bobbins.
Yes there is a way of adjusting the bobbin winding thingy. I think you have to adjust the screw on top and move it slightly. Never done it myself but my boss told me when I complained.
I don’t think there’s anything in the books about that is there? :thinking:
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I know I am a bit late to this but,
Many years ago I had a machine, make unknown, that I had bought when I left home as a cheapy.
I tried using it many times and it rarely worked without a whole load of bunching under the plate and fabric. It was only after nearly throwing the thing out the window that I realised you could not use any kind of different thread in the bobbin to what was going on the top! Same thread, different colour? Bunching! Different thread, Same colour? Bunching! I only had a couple of bobbins that came with the machine and had just been using it for the odd bits of household sewing so had never really thought about it.
To this day I would not ever, ever dream of starting a project without first ensuring there are newly wound bobbins of the same thread I am working with, let alone buy pre-wound. You need to be careful with them machines, some of them are really temperamental :laughing:
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When I had my Janome serviced I told him it was over filling the bobbin, so of course when it came back it didn’t fill them enough.
On my machine there is a metal lever that the bobbin butts up against when in the filling position. I gently pushed the lever away from the bobbin and now get a fuller bobbin.
I’ve been wondering about a sidewinder as my machine does not like winding embroidery thread and either jams or winds too loosely.
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@Ohsewsimple Thank you! That could have been a frustrating mistake. I will have a look at that screw. There isn't anything in the manual or trouble-shooting guide, ut I did learn that there is a thread cutter up there for when you're winding the bobbin!
My Megaquilter winds bobbins really beautifully, but, of course, only its own!
I wouldn't even think of using prewound bobbins, because I have always had trouble using non-branded bobbins in any machine I've owned, and as the H-V ones only fit in the machine if they're the right way up I would assume there was no chance of prewound ones working. I also wouldn't want all those wasted bobbins after using the thread on them.
@Bumblebuncher The H-V manual does say that you should use the same thread top and bottom (although I'm fairly sure it doesn't need to be the same colour!) unless embroidering, when you can use embroidery bobbin thread.
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My OCD wouldn't let me use anything but the same thread / same colour, top and bottom.. :D in fact I didn't know you could use different threads :faints: :embarrassed:
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@Acorn 40 years ago I was young, naive and thought I knew better ><
I believe I may have realised about the thread by actually reading the instruction booklet and finding it in there!
It also took me quite a bit of time to realise that you could buy more bobbins and not have to keep pulling the thread off of the one/two you had to get them the same :laughing:
I don't think I ever had a shop near me to just pop into and find out about these things and the internet was a big eye opener :o
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@Bumblebuncher I used to add the new thread on top of the old on the bobbin - all I can think is that I never sewed anything very big, or just put up with having to rewind them far too often! :laughing:
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@Acorn Oooh I used to do that too, I think the mother started me on that as I can also remember doing it on the shuttle bobbins her old machine used! I can blame her :D
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@Ohsewsimple I did learn that there is a thread cutter up there for when you're winding the bobbin!
How long have you had the machine? :laughing:
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Ummm.... 4.5 years... :rolleyes:
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Ummm.... 4.5 years... :rolleyes:
:laughing: :laughing:
Well better late than never!
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@Acorn
The screw to the bobbin winder needs a Hex screwdriver but usually you can just rotate the part I have put an arrow on, in to have less bobbin thread and out for more, it has enough movement to allow this as long as the mechanic hasn’t overtightened it. Hope this might help. The picture is of my machine it is set to not wind very full at the moment but that is my choice.
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Thank you @Celia - fortunately I have the correct screwdriver. When I managed to allow the machine to suck in the loose end of a reel of thread ( :o ) we had to open it up, and managed to get one through Amazon.
I have loosened it (it was very tight), but need to refine it a bit - it's not stopping the winding at the moment. I will experiment with turning the doodah.
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Useful info @Celia. I thought it would need to be loosened. My Diamond is fine but my old SE doesn’t wind a lot on, not that it gets a lot of use.
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I moved the arm thingy on my bobbin winder to get more on just as Celia said. The first time I moved it too much and overfilled the bobbin so it wouldn't work. I tweaked it some more and now it is fine. I also use that machine to wind my embroidery machine bobbins whilst my EM is chuntering away - Took me a 'Doh!' moment to realise I could do that!! :facepalm: