The Sewing Place
Machine Talk => Machine Accessories => Topic started by: Lizzielogs on November 08, 2017, 07:38:49 AM
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Hi all, could anyone make a comment on bobbin winders, I only have one machine (shock, horror) and it's often inconvenient to refill a bobbin if I am in the middle of sewing something and wondered if a separate winder might be a good purchase?
These are my questions, the answers and ANY comments would make me very thrilled :D
Have you ever had one? / do you use one? / what have you got? / are they worth the money? / any thoughts at all? / should I plan my sewing better? / do you have one to sell me? / why is there a sell by date on sour cream?.
Thanks in advance
xx :drink: xx
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It's so b£**dy annoying when your bobbin runs out mid-sewing! I've wondered about a separate winder, but then thought I'd need the thread off the sewing machine anyway, although I usually have more than one of a colour (for use on the overlocker). My new machine has an extra spool pin, so I use that rather than unthread, although I still need to take the main thread off one bit on the top to wind a bobbin.
Sorry, not a lot of help to you, but I'll be interested to see what others think about them.
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why is there a sell by date on sour cream?.
... or buttermilk. I usually get them free from the local shop when they are out of date.
I've never used a bobbin winder either.
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My machine can wind bobbins and sew at the same time. Buy a new machine :D
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My machine can wind bobbins and sew at the same time. Buy a new machine :D
Oooh, that's exciting. 8) It's not something I thought about when I bought my new machine a few months ago :(
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Could you be tempted to find a nice little vintage sewing machine :) if you could pick one up locally from gumtree or similar, or put a 'wanted' on freecycle, it could be kept just for bobbin winding :)
As a bonus, you would have a spare machine and that lovely warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you've rescued a lovely vintage :vintage: :angel:
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From the title of this thread I really thought you were asking about winders for lace bobbins!
I have one of the black ones and I think I might still have a little wooden one similar to the piccie, but before that I had a Heath Robinson thingie which Terry made by adapting a hand powered rotary egg whisk. Alas I no longer have it or even a photo.
As for winding sewing machine bobbins - it's a pain. On some machines it's possible to wind as you sew. I've never tried it, but the vintage Singers have a separate tension for the bobbin winder so I suppose they could do it. My Husqvarna winds bobbins with thread coming from the neeedle so no unthreading necessary.
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Could you be tempted to find a nice little vintage sewing machine :)
Little vintage sewing machines, AKA Featherweights, don't generally come cheap! :vintage:
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There are independent battery powered winders, used to be about £25, I think labelled Singer. Is that what you were thinking of? I don't know if they wind every size of bobbin. I haven't used one but if I'd known about them before, I would not have got rid of an excellent Alfa machine when the winder casting broke.
Might be an idea to invest in extra bobbins and wind two at the start of a project if it is likely to be a long one. I have lots of bobbins and always keep a full white and a black ready.
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My machine can wind bobbins and sew at the same time. Buy a new machine :D
LOL, nope that is NEVER going to happen!
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Could you be tempted to find a nice little vintage sewing machine :) if you could pick one up locally from gumtree or similar, or put a 'wanted' on freecycle, it could be kept just for bobbin winding :)
As a bonus, you would have a spare machine and that lovely warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you've rescued a lovely vintage :vintage: :angel:
Lovely idea but there's no room for another machine where I sew and even more hideously - and I'm whispering here and KNOW I'm in the minority but I'm not a fan of vintage machines!!
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There are independent battery powered winders, used to be about £25, I think labelled Singer. Is that what you were thinking of? I don't know if they wind every size of bobbin. I haven't used one but if I'd known about them before, I would not have got rid of an excellent Alfa machine when the winder casting broke.
Might be an idea to invest in extra bobbins and wind two at the start of a project if it is likely to be a long one. I have lots of bobbins and always keep a full white and a black ready.
Yes, the independent battery things are the things I mean I'm sure, I do have a gazillion extra bobbins and have 5 black and white at the ready but it always seems to be the 'just' jobs that catch me out without the correct colour. I suppose I needed the feedback for one of the battery things!
:toast: cheers x
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Doesn't all sewing machines wind bobbins with out too much fuzz? I loosen the stop motion screw on my machines, wind a bobbin and if I have a second spool of the same thread I don't have to rethread the top either. It doesn't affect the work under the needle much, but I have to replace the bobbin and access the bobbin case. All the vintage machines does this, possibly with the odd exception.
Which modern models wind the bobbin from the needle thread like the old Touch & Sew. You had the access a setting lever under the bobbin cover on the the old T&S, I guess that's on a touch screen on modern machines, or button some where.
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Doesn't all sewing machines wind bobbins with out too much fuzz? I loosen the stop motion screw on my machines, wind a bobbin and if I have a second spool of the same thread I don't have to rethread the top either. It doesn't affect the work under the needle much, but I have to replace the bobbin and access the bobbin case. All the vintage machines does this, possibly with the odd exception.
Which modern models wind the bobbin from the needle thread like the old Touch & Sew. You had the access a setting lever under the bobbin cover on the the old T&S, I guess that's on a touch screen on modern machines, or button some where.
As you say Arrow, they do but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on a winder??
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I looked for it and the brand is Simplicity not Singer. Reviews are mixed, it does not seem to be very fast, doesn't like large reels or cones and takes 2 x AA batteries. Some are delighted, some not. It is described as suitable for 'most' bobbins. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but it sounds as if it is OK for occasional use.
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If you're anything like me by the time you've found the damn thing, gone downstairs for new batteries, broken a nail removing battery cover, you could have wound a new bobbin or two and rethreaded and sewn another seam.
Alternatively you would probably know exactly where it is, have a plentiful supply of batteries to hand and the correct tool to remove said battery cover.
.
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I looked for it and the brand is Simplicity not Singer. Reviews are mixed, it does not seem to be very fast, doesn't like large reels or cones and takes 2 x AA batteries. Some are delighted, some not. It is described as suitable for 'most' bobbins. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but it sounds as if it is OK for occasional use.
Thank you T&T, I ust have read similar reviews on the Simplicity and it seems very ambivalent, I think I was hoping someone say they had a different brand and it was marvelous!!
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Sorry to be so late finding this topic.
I bought a SIDE-WINDER a few years ago. It doesn't do a good job winding the bobbins for my Pfaff 2134. The holes are too big and the bobbin slips instead of winding smoothly.
What I do find it very useful for, is winding those very cheap metal bobbins you can buy in bulk. I use them with the Bob & Serge on my overlocker. The batteries also last a long time I find. A good buy if you have sufficient use for it.
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I've got a Simplicity Sidewinder. It's the smaller one of the two available and runs on batteries.
I got it at a time when winding bobbins was a problem for pretty much all of my vintage machines, for one reason or another, and I was down to winding all bobbins on my 1990s Bernina. I was afraid that if that machine let me down, I'd be stuck with no reliable, faff-free way to fill a bobbin.
It's OK. I've never had any major problems with it, and it does the job, though it always operates at a rather sickly speed and has a flimsy feel to it. There is an option to power it from the mains (cable not included), rather than batteries, and I do wonder if that would perk it up a bit.
I've used it to wind class 15 and Singer class 66/Elna bobbins. Always from small/medium sized reels so I can't comment on how it would behave with large cones, but I can't imagine that it would work well. I still use it from time to time if a bobbin runs out when I've got something with a lot of pins held in place under the presser foot and I *really* don't want to unthread the needle.
I got it fairly cheaply on eBay (<£20) and for what I paid for it, I'm glad I have it, but had I paid much more I'd be disappointed.
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One of my colleagues uses one to wind bobbins for a large embroidery machine. It works pretty well. But they don't all do all bobbins. So be careful if buying one. As regards winding through the needle, i don't recommend that after seeing several machines that had to be repaired after doing just that.
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I never use the machine to wind them, I prefer to use the Sidewinder which does a perfect job for me. Only thing I have to watch is that Pfaff bobbins have to go in upside down (lettering to the bottom), or they don't work in the machine. Mine is just the small one with one battery, which takes ages to run down. Wouldn't be without it.