Originally Posted by sunflower126
No I don't have one and I have too wondered why you would spend $30 for one when your machine can wind them for you. Anxious to see what others have to say.
lol... I only bought one, cause I found the 'breast cancer awareness' model on clearance at Walmart... for $6. So I bought it. Now I find that I use it alot when I sew.
1. Some folks machines... the bobbin threading process uses some of the same guides as the sewing process does. Why I don't know. Inefficient. If you have a machine like that... even if you had a 2nd spool pin and a 2nd spool of the exact same thread you're using... you would STILL have to unthread the machine to wind a bobbin.
2. Either wind all your bobbins before you start the project, or you'll still have to have the 2nd spool of the exact same thread to wind new bobbins if you run out - whether you use your machine or a gizmo to wind the bobbin.
3. The bobbin winder gizmo seems to work faster, with less chance of wild nests than my machine. If I attempt to wind a bobbin on my Janome really fast, the thread pops up from the guides and winds all around the spool pin, itself, the machine and my fingers... wild nests and wasted thread.
4. Sometimes the bobbin winder gizmo is just one more thing in the way. So if I know I'm doing a ton of piecing or something, I'll wind up like 12 or so bobbins of my cotton neutral thread before I start, then put the gizmo in a drawer out of the way.
Also I guess... at $6, the gizmo is way less expensive than a trip to the sew store with your machine to take it in for service/fixing if your bobbin winder is broken.
Note #24... lol... bobbin winders on different machines wind differently, with less/more amounts of tension on the thread. If you start a project using one type of winder... try to finish that section of sewing using bobbins wound by the same method. If not, you'll likely not get a tight lockstitch.