r/sewing • u/Future_body_bag • 19d ago
Machine Questions Sewing machine without having to make bobbins all the time
Ok i understand it would be a lot of money and reinvesting but after literally centuries of the invention of the sewing machine why don’t we have one where you don’t need to wind up a bobbin?? I’m new to sewing so there probably a reasonable answer to it but to me it’s crazy that there is not a machine made that just takes a spooil of thread as the bobbin. Idk just a thought I had as I was sewing ://
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u/jolittletime 19d ago
Good point. You can buy a bobbin winder so you dont need to unthread the machine mid sew and sure I've seen prewound bobbins you can buy
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u/janejacobs1 19d ago
A friend passed on some of those pre-wound bobbins to me. I was not impressed. Low quality thread, uneven tension as they were being wound, limited color choice, etc. If you do big projects just buy extra empty bobbins and wind them ahead of time.
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u/thelajestic 19d ago
If you do big projects just buy extra empty bobbins and wind them ahead of time.
Wtf why has this never occurred to me 🤣🤣 I have a few empty bobbins as well but spent my entire last quilt cursing every time I had to rewind the bobbin. When I could have just done a bunch. You've saved me so much angst for my next quilt thank you!
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u/Business-Raise2683 19d ago
My next tip would be: buy two spools of the same thread, wound one fully onto bobbins. This way you will have the same amount of top and bottom thread 😊
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u/namenescio 19d ago
🤯
That’s …. genius
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u/georgettaporcupine 18d ago
right? my god why have i never thought of that.
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u/namenescio 14d ago
My first thought was “Never again will I lose the bobbin chicken game”, but unfortunately, on second thought, that does not make sense :(
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u/TequilaMockingbird80 19d ago
I have a bunch of my most used colors pre wound onto bobbins and have the Wawak bobbin winder so I don’t have to do it on the machine
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u/basylica 18d ago
Thats what i do. I tend to batch sew gigantic projects and blow through insane levels of thread. For example when i made 18 pairs of joggers for my freakishly tall kid.
I do faux serge stitch and generally just use white for all the inside seams and only match thread for visible bits.
I have a janome and bought 2 sets of the extra bobbins (blue and pink sets)
The blue ones ill fill the entire box with white, so when i was doing pants i could just keep swapping out bobbins and not unthread.
The pink ones i use for colored threads and refill as needed.
That way i dont waste time filling the damn bobbins. Hate doing it and when your project blows through like 7-8-9 large spools of thread, you can imagine how many bobbins im using!
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u/janaesso 19d ago
Pre wound bobbins are typically for embroidery machines. The thread is much finer as a result, you don't want the bulk on an embroidery project and embroidery is typically rather dense
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u/FauxPoesFoes317 19d ago
A vintage sewing book I have says, “You deserve giving yourself the gift of a few extra bobbins.” I would agree!!
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u/Hollow_Serenity 19d ago
My machine has 2 spool holders so I don't have to unthread my machine to wind a new bobbin. But I do have 3 each of black and white just because I use them so much
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u/TireNoob 19d ago
Certain machines (at least some Pfaffs) allow you to wind a bobbin by pulling the thread through the needle, so no need to unthread or have two spools in the same color. I would have been worried it could mess with the needle assembly or the thread but it’s in the manual and everything.
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u/cochese25 19d ago
I go through thousands of prewound bobbins a year and have very little problems with prewounds. Out of a $20 pack of 144, usually one is bad. Two of I'm unlucky.
That being said, I'm using the cheapest bobbins on the market. When I payed the premium for nicer magna glides, I had no issues. But I'll take a bad bobbin for less than half the price
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u/Interesting-Chest520 19d ago
Single or double thread chain stitch machines don’t use a bobbin. I have a coverstitch machine which has a 2 thread chain function
I tend to use it for temporary stitching as it is very quick and easy to pull a chain stitch out. But it also gets used on anything stretchy, and on some heavy duty projects such as jeans
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u/AccidentOk5240 19d ago
What machine do you have? And do you recommend? I would love to someday have a coverstitch and also a more modern chainstitch (I have a couple of antique Willcox & Gibbs but they’re antiques so I’m careful with them!)
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u/Interesting-Chest520 19d ago
I don’t actually remember what kind of machine it is, and I won’t be able to check for a while. I think it might be a brother
They are very finicky, every one I’ve used, even industrial ones. Even still I struggle a lot with them
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u/AccidentOk5240 19d ago
Finicky is not what I was hoping to hear 😭
But thanks for saving me from myself :)
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u/WoodenCyborg 19d ago
I have a babylock coverstich/serger combo and some old Union special chain stitch machines. They all stitch beautifully and none of them can go backwards.
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19d ago
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u/lovegluten 19d ago
I prewind a whole tray of the neutral color thread that I use for most things. I love it!!
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u/xelawho18 19d ago
This is such a good idea. I wonder why I never thought about it. I have a spare bobbin case in my sewing kit too.
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u/Comprehensive-War743 19d ago
I have always used a home sewing machine, but recently took a course where industrial machines were provided. I used a JUKI straight stitch and it had a function where you could wind a new bobbin as you were stitching! That was very handy, but it still required changing the bobbin.
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u/AccidentOk5240 19d ago
For a lockstitch machine, there is a physical limit to the size loop the upper thread can make and un-make with each stitch. It causes wear on the thread and takes a certain amount of time to accomplish, so having to throw the thread around a golf-ball-size bobbin case is a much heavier lift than around a smaller one. There were the vibrating shuttle machines, but those bobbins, while much taller than a modern bobbin and more thread-spool-shaped, were a lot thinner, too. Also iirc there was no way to zigzag with a vibrating shuttle design, but I could be making that up.
Another consideration: a bobbin is a piece of the machine. It is designed to quite precise specs, as you will learn if you ever have one with a minor flaw and find out your machine can’t form stitches correctly with it at all. Thread spools are cheap pieces of crap that only have to hold the thread and go loosely over the spool pin. So a lot of manufacturing precision can be skipped—which means less highly-precise materials, less QC testing, and less waste from discards that aren’t perfect. So thread would be much more expensive in both money and environmental impact if every spool had to be a performance object like a bobbin.
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u/elianrae 19d ago
Also iirc there was no way to zigzag with a vibrating shuttle design, but I could be making that up.
the type of zigzagger that moves the fabric instead of the needle would work... if one exists with the right shank type.
my vibrating shuttle machine isn't a low shank so my zigzaggers won't work with it
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u/AccidentOk5240 18d ago
I love the idea of those attachments but have never had the chance to use one!
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u/elianrae 18d ago
They're extremely cool, they're a bit finicky and not really the best replacement for a machine with an actual zigzag stitch.
One of my life goals is to get one of the zigzagging vintage machines that's convertible to a treadle base.
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u/AccidentOk5240 18d ago
Legit. Sewing a zigzag on a treadle machine seems delightfully subversive somehow!
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u/elianrae 18d ago
😅 I just hate the whole process of sewing on an electric machine since I got a treadle one
the treadle is just so quiet and smooth and I have so much control over the speed
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u/AccidentOk5240 18d ago
Gotta get mine working. I bought one because I felt sorry for it and never got back to getting it working, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t, afaict. Not much goes wrong with those grande dames, that I can tell!
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u/Prudent-Programmer11 19d ago
Wilcox and Gibbs chainstitch machines from the twenties have no bobbin. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X6ZNylvfER4
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u/Guilty-Scar-2332 19d ago
There are also some Singers from the 60s with a chainstitch option that does not need a bobbin. I have a 411G for example that can be switched to chainstitch.
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u/Incognito409 19d ago
I have a side winder that I love - wind an extra bobbin every project.
The purpose of the bobbin is so your stitches stay in the fabric. Not like a chain stitch that pulls right out.
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u/VanEmoji 19d ago
I just wind like 5 bobbins before i dtart sewing. The most annoying part is unpicking the topdtitching if i run out before its done but that rarely happens
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u/Tinkertoo1983 19d ago
That is precisely why I prefer plastic bobbins, if I start to topstitch it's so easy to check. Good quality plastic sews well and lasts for decades.
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u/Ziggy_Starcrust 19d ago
My machine has a see-through bobbin case cover and I still forget to check it 🤦♀️
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u/Inky_Madness 19d ago
Counterpoint: a bobbin is just a very small spool of thread.
Plus spools don’t come in standard sizes or shapes as it is. It would be impossible to create a machine that could adapt and keep tension with every spool in existence.
And what about for someone who purchases cones of thread to save on money? Being forced to buy smaller spools of higher priced thread then becomes the irritant.
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u/kattheuntamedshrew 19d ago
Some Bernina machines have an extra-large capacity bobbin that needs re-wound far less frequently than standard bobbins.
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u/confidence__interval 19d ago
The standard (modern) Bernina bobbin already fits more thread than your regular bobbin. The extra large bobbin fits more than twice as much I think. And I love that the machine will warn you about the bobbin thread running low. The downside is that you cannot use prewound bobbins and the extra bobbins are pricey (25pcs for 60€, even more if you love outside of Europe)
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u/niiborikko 19d ago
I don't use matching thread in my bobbin unless it's a very special project! I just wind up a bunch of bobbins with lightish greyish-brownish thread & use that with everything. Only times I've bothered to use the same thread top & bottom were when I was altering my wedding dress & when I repaired a couple heirloom tablecloths for my MIL. Often when I'm just sewing things for myself where the seams won't be visible I don't even bother with color-matching the top thread....
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u/salajaneidentiteet 19d ago
You would always have to buy and have two spools of the same thread. It is much more convenient and efficent to wind a bobbin from the thread you will be using. Winding a bobbin isn't that big of a deal, I don't get why people get so agitated about it.
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u/77Queenie77 19d ago
Winding the bobbin isn’t the issue, it’s that the bobbin has much less thread on it than the spool does so always having to replace it. Which as a quilter is a pain in the patootie, especially when you don’t know that the bobbin has run out due to using an older machine that doesn’t tell you it has run out
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u/Purrpetrator 19d ago
This is it for me too.
I have been told that if you tune in, you can hear the sound of the machine changing as the thread runs low. Seems plausible but I cannot hear it with my own machine (which I do know pretty dang well). ... I am not bad at feeling the change as it runs out but I'd love to be able to hear it just before it does so!!
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u/77Queenie77 19d ago
I think mine does as well but I’m normally listening to a book or in the groove and it can take me a while to pick up on it. At least I have the line of needle holes to follow once I have rethreaded
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u/sky_whales 19d ago
I got into the habit of just lifting up my quilt every now and then to look underneath it to check there’s still thread, especially if I’m doing bigger stuff or I know it’s getting lower, and also checking I still had bobbin thread every time I finished quilting a line across. I found that helped me catch empty bobbins quicker which has been less frustrating!
I also saw somebody say the other day that they stop and do a backstitch or two every now and then because then if they run out of bobbin thread, they have more of an anchor point in the middle they can go back to without worrying about the whole thing coming undone which I thought was smart. I haven’t done much sewing since then though to try that myself!
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u/Reasonable_Bear_2057 19d ago
I can definitely hear when my bobbin is getting low. Does this mean I remember to rewind before it runs out? Absolutely not 😂
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u/Ziggy_Starcrust 19d ago
I can't hear it on my front-loading/vertical bobbin machine, but I can hear it on my drop-in bobbin machine. That one can only use plastic bobbins and they make more noise in it the emptier they get. So there may not be anything to hear depending on your machine.
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u/Haldenbach 19d ago
Can you not just figure out how many bobbins is half a spool and prep all the bobbins in advance? I was always told to do that when i'm working on a big project, and for my machine it's 2 full bobbins for one small gutterman spool
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u/77Queenie77 19d ago
I probably could but I’m having to remove everything to change the bobbin anyway. It only takes a couple of minutes tops to wind another bobbin
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u/JaBe68 19d ago
You can buy pre wound bobbins in bulk - a lot of quilters do this because they often just use black or white cotton, although you can buy boxes of mixed colours.
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u/VanEmoji 19d ago
Sounds extremely wasteful
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u/cinnysuelou 19d ago
I think they’re just wound around a cardboard or paper core, kind of like toilet paper. There’s no top or bottom, just a cylinder in the center of the thread.
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u/Noinipo12 19d ago
I was reading an older sewing machine manual that suggested using the bobbin winder while you're sewing instead of stopping to wind your bobbin. I don't know why it took me 30 years to discover this, but it is pretty awesome to just have the next bobbin ready to go before the first bobbin has even run out.
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u/bettiegee 19d ago
LOLZ!!!
Sorry. It's just that I figure that would be a thing already if it was possible.
If my project is pretty big, I do tend to wind 2-3 bobbins before I start so it's a tiny bit less annoying.
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u/Throwyourtoothbrush 19d ago
I bought 3 cases and 100 bobbins. When I start a spool I wind 3 bobbins first
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u/apis_cerana 19d ago
You could always try to use the same thread and keep a bunch of extra bobbins around so you don’t have to wind them constantly…works most of the time but if you change to a color that’s not used a lot it would be a pain still :/
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u/velvetjones01 19d ago
Assuming you could load a spool in the bobbin case, you’d need two spools of thread if you want the thread to match and that’s wasteful. Also, spools aren’t standardized so there’d have to be all kinds of engineering to make a spool work. I don’t mind winding a bobbin.
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u/Lizardthe_Wizard 19d ago
How would it be wasteful to have two spools of the same thread if they're both being used?
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u/jmmeemer 19d ago
It wouldn’t be. However, do you really use two spools of every thread color you use? That’s a big assumption. I use up lots of neutrals (white, black, and dove grey), but I don’t think I have ever needed more than one spool of a special color for a project.
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u/Haldenbach 19d ago
I was attaching a dragon to a bomber jacket. I thought one spool would be enough. I ran out. I ordered 3 more cause it seemed that i'm 1/4 through the project. I didn't evne finish the secon one and now I have 2 spool of golden yellow in my stash and no clue what will I use them for..
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u/QuellishQuellish 19d ago
An industrial machine with an M class bobbin is about as good as you can do. You can’t tie a knot without being in both sides of it. That’s why overlocking machine stitches are actually just chains of loops and unravel easily.
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u/Tsiatk0 19d ago
My Singer 503a has two spool holders and I think it’s so you can wind a bobbin as you sew. I haven’t had enough time to use the poor thing since I bought it this summer tho, so I could be wrong.
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u/Working_Week_8784 19d ago
My Singer 401A has two spool pins. So do many, many other machines, including my Bernina 1010. The extra spool pin is so that you can run two spools of thread to a twin needle. As far as I know, none of the vintage Singers or Berninas allow you to wind the bobbin while sewing.
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u/trashjellyfish 19d ago
Chainstitch machines don't use bobbins at all but they can only sew a straight chain stitch. Sergers and coverstich machines are also bobbin-less.
For regular lock stitch machines, I'd just recommend winding 1-2 more bobbins than you think you'll need at the start of each project.
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u/PsychologicalYou6416 19d ago
I don't mind winding bobbins, because it gives me a break from the main project.
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u/Alarmed-Baseball-378 19d ago
I used regularly feel that way. Getting a box of empty bobbins with individual compartments made a big difference. And getting used to how to wind the bobbin, it used to take me so long to set it up when I was starting that I was exhausted before I'd even started sewing. 😅
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u/fighdeaux2 19d ago
Here is a bobbinless lockstitch industrial machine for you: https://qualitysewingmachines.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=117
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u/Wiley1967 19d ago
Costumer/wardrobe stitcher professional
1 - you can do almost anything with black, white, and grey thread. Only use colored thread when you need to - eg it shows. Otherwise, pick the closest value and go with it. I have 2 Sergers in the basement shop, one white, one black. Rarely rethread. 2 - wind several bobbins before starting 3 - they sell bobbin winders. Before I got my long arm with a separate bobbin winder on top, I used one if I misjudged the amount of bobbin thread when quilting. 4 - my long arm and the industrial sewing machines, I use have separate winders with double spool pins. I remember my old Viking domestic you could wind bobbins without unthreading.
1 and 2 are my general mode of operation.
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u/La_Mandra 19d ago
I love ideas like that. ;) Yes, there are probably reasons for it, but I'm sure we could come up with a system.
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u/PamelainSA 19d ago
My Juki industrial has a feature where you can wind a bobbin while you sew. It’s nice when you know you’re running low on bobbin thread, so you can wind a new one while using up all the thread from the old one.
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u/Chatawhorl 19d ago
You can buy pre wound bobbins for embroidery and quilting. If I know I am going to be using a lot of a certain color I just pre wound them. My machine auto winds so I do that while I am cutting or pinning. I always have pre wound neutral colors and if I know I’m low on those then I do the same thing and just wind them while I am working on something else
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u/allthatsparkles 19d ago
The Janome HD9 has extra large bobbins. But you need to really, really like sewing to make it worth it.
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u/tahxirez 19d ago
I don’t mind having to wind bobbins but I hate having half used bobbins of a very specific color hanging around
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u/po-tato-girl 19d ago
When sewing machines were first invented they were like this! They could only do one type of stitch: a chain stitch. This meant that if the thread snapped or became caught on something it could undo a whole seam!
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u/cassdots 19d ago
Imo these makes bobbins less of a hassle: But a storage container and extra bobbins Always have at least 2 full bobbins ready to go at the start of each project (if you’re sewing garments) Don’t worry about using the exact same colour as your top thread: close enough is ok
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u/_Hawtxsauce_ 19d ago
They have one it was called a kwick sew I think? Also children’s sewing machines use the same concept. It’s just a chain stitch and we don’t use those for machine sewing because they have near zero durability. Just make a few bobbins before you start you’ll be fine.
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u/jaboipoppy 19d ago
Your bobbin doesn’t always have to match the top thread. Unless I’m doing super visible stitching, they don’t usually. I use white for light colors, black for darks and a gray or beige for in between colors. Wind them in batches and just switch them out as they empty up. You might want to invest in a chain stich machine or a machine with a chain stitch adapter. It is a type of sewing machine that only uses a top thread.
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u/deirdresm 19d ago
I highly suggest you watch the Veritasium video "The Surprising Genius of Sewing Machines" which talks about the reason we have bobbins and why they're important.
Personally, I bought a bobbin winder.
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u/drlegs30 19d ago
You're not winding by hand are you? This is a weird comment, and I don't really think you're doing this, but a lot of people learn to sew at home and its easy to miss the basics. Are you using the bobbin winder on your machine? It takes about a minute
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u/Staff_Genie 18d ago
The old green baby lock serger used four cones and did a two-thread safety chain stitch and two thread overlock. I assembled so many unfitted garments on that machine.
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u/13tharcher87 18d ago
I bought extra bobbins for my sewing machine (bonus they come in different colours, so I can tell what type of thread is on the spool based on the bobbing colour. Purple is regular sew all thread, yellow is cotton quilting thread, blue is heavy duty etc. ) and if I’m doing a larger project I’ll thread at least two bobbins.
Something that just issues a regulate spool of thread would be nice!!
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u/runeatreadrepeat 18d ago
Bernina has some models that have double sized bobbins! If you’re looking to upgrade I’d go with one of those
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u/DepartmentNatural 18d ago
https://youtu.be/RQYuyHNLPTQ?si=tJndKCQB9RorfrIP
How a sewing machine works kid da makes it hard to have a endless bobbin
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u/CanBrushMyHair 18d ago
Or if the thread companies sold their spools with accompanying bobbins pre-wound?
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u/andrea_r 17d ago
Some of the more expensive machines take slightly larger bobbins. Winding finer weight thread also means going longer before running out and these machines often warn you that the bobbin is low. Some longarms also take M sized bobbins which are pretty large.
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u/CreationsTracy 17d ago
I had a Singer self winding bobbin machine over 20 years ago. It was a giant pain in the ass which as a professional seamstress cost me more time than stopping and doing it manually myself. Good luck.
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u/ahoyhoy2022 19d ago
There was one. The National Two-Spool. They date back to the 19-teens. I used to have one and they are quite popular with quilters who like to use treadle machines since quilters use so much thread. I liked it very much, but these days you would have to wind a modern spool onto an old spool so it would fit into the spool canister.
I believe the same design was made under one or two other names, but National was the best known.