Joe Ayres

I had read in some manual to put the spool on the spool pin so that the thread comes off next to the machine. This makes the thread spool turn clockwise. So I continued doing that no matter which machine I was using.

I was quilting using “invisible thread” which is only a few thousands of an inch in diameter, and very hard to see. I was having trouble with the thread breaking every time I made a long, faster row of stitches. I would find that the tread had wrapped around the spool pin. So I turned the spool around so that it turns counter-clockwise. Problem solved. I figured that if the spool turns counter-clockwise it would be less likely to stay caught when the spool “jumps” as the thread is taken off. Seems to work, so far so good.

I am using a Singer 301, and when I looked in the manual it said, like all the other manuals I looked up, “put the thread on the spool pin” but the 301 manual has a picture of the spool in place, and the thread is coming off the back of the spool, making it turn counter-clockwise.

Has anyone seen a reason for which direction the tread should come off the spool?
This is the kind of stuff one wonders about while sewing big batches of things!

sschick

I try to have the thread come off the spool clockwise since both my vintage Singers have a small thread guide on the front of the machine that the thread goes through first. Neither manual mentions anything about which direction for the thread to come off the spool. It only mentions it for threading the needle and replacing the bobbin, but both have one drawing showing the thread coming off clockwise. I do remember watching a video one time and the woman mentioned it should always come off in a certain direction. I thought she mentioned clockwise, but I may be remembering wrong. It was probably a year or so ago that I watched that particular video.

Shari

quiltedsunshine

Our children's sewing teacher at the shop tells the children that it should always pull off the back of the spool. I don't know why.

DrosieD

On an upright pin it should come off counter clockwise. On a horizontal pin it should come off the top.

cashs_mom

I have never paid any attention to how my thread comes off the spool and it hasn't ever seemed to make a difference.

SueZQ from MN

The only time it makes a difference to me is if I am using thread that has a notch on the spool to hold the loose end of the thread. Then I make sure that the notch is on the bottom or farthest away from the needle so the thread can't catch on the notch as it unwinds.