Joselake

I was at the Thirft shop and bought 8 cones of various colors, all for $4. Great buy. However I have been wrapping BY HAND thread over smaller spools to sew and find it's a real pain.

Can anyone suggest a good thread guide so I can unspool my thread without it getting all twisted? I find it makes for not real nice stitches when it doesn't come off the spool smoothly.

Tartan

Some people like to set the cone in a cup behind their machine and use it that way. Others have made their own stands from the paper towel stands. If you put cone thread holder or stand in the search feature you might find some examples.

deemail

why? just set in a coffee mug behind the machine and bring thread up and over the spool pin and thread regularly...there is also a pin you can but with a little platform that sits behind your machine and has an arm that you bring the thread up thru and to the machine spool pin, etc., i have used them for 20 yrs this way...it's fine...

oops, tartan and i were typing at the same time, i guess...but am happy to hear about the paper towel holder...will look...

PS...if you take your old pantyhose and cut off a 6" length, then sew (zigazg or serge) into a tube about 2" across, trim and slip over the spool...the thread will not come off too fast... i sew all the way down the leg on both sides, 2" from fold...then just keep in my sewing cabinet to chop off 6" whenever i need a new one...i leave them on the cones so it doesn't get messy in my thread box...

Kat Sews

I have also bent a wire coat hanger to make cone thread holder

LeslieFrost

I use a standing toilet paper holder that I found at a local hardware store. I hope that you'll be able to see how I have arranged it in these photos. The toilet paper stand, with the cone on it, stands on a stool to the right and behind my sewing cabinet. The thread comes off the spool without the cone having to turn around, since the narrow end of the cone is aimed at the sewing machine. I just bring the thread up to the machine and around the ordinary thread spool pin, then over to thread as usual. I put one of the red felt circles that usually sit under a spool over the pin to hold the thread down lightly. This has worked very well for me.

cheaha39

I am for quick, cheap and simple. I squash to elongate and then bend a coathanger into an upside down "V". I drape the hanger over my big sewing table lamp shade, with the hook bent into a partial circle, on the ouside of the shade. With the cone placed directly under the hanger, the thread comes off the cone with no mess or fuss. The thread moves smoothly, from the height of the shade down to my machine, some 18 to 24 inches.

AshleyR

I use an empty Jar

romanojg

There are so many possibilities. I'm using a candle holder that comes up and over; I place a coffee cup at the bottom with the thread in it and the bring the thread up and thru one of the spirals coming off of it. I saw where one person took a wooden paper towel holder and put small dowels or pegs around the bottom and screwed cup hooks in the top to run the thread thru. Both of these things will allow you to see right from the cones. Get creative; look around your house and find something that is a little taller than your machine that you can run you thread thru and you are good to go.

Val in IN

I'm a coffee cup gal myself, but I really appreciate the pantyhose idea!

sewbeadit

My dh made me some thread holders for big cones, he used an oak block and cut them out oblong and made the upright thingymajig with a curl at the top like most of them are, turned out wonderful and I gave a lot away. He was a machinist so could form the metal like magic. YOu can also buy them from many shops on line or at Joanns probably. Many places they aren't expensive and are weighted so they stay in one spot.