“Unwinding” a bobbin
 

Am I the only one who just figured this out? You know when you muck up winding a bobbin or you just need to remove the thread on there? I could never figure out an easy way to do that without the bobbin getting away and flying all around the room. Well, yesterday, after 60 some years of sewing, the light bulb finally went on! Put the bobbin in a drawer, close the drawer, start pulling! 🥳🎉

I just put it on the thread spool of the sewing machine and put a thread cap on it and pull the thread off.

I put it on the machine spool pin and rewind correctly on another bobbin.

I put them on the thread post and use them for sewing. Over the years, I have accumulated many bobbins for each of my machines and always have empty ones so have no need to empty one and throw the thread away.

Great ideas, Ladies!!!! Thank you for sharing. Necessity is the mother if invention....can't remember who said that. Applies to me quite often.

I think I mostly use a pencil which I already have in my sewing kit. I typically remove small amounts of thread (which is usually a pretty big tangle once I have it off). I keep larger amounts and use them in my scrap quilting.

I'm not such a fan of winding and rewinding... some threads are easier than others but I believe they do have a direction, so thread my needle as it comes off the spool as opposed to cutting the thread first and then threading the opposite end. It just seems to me I have better results and an easier time.

edit: Should also mention that because I am typically working with varied scraps, I usually use a tan or a steel bluish thread that "disappears" into multiple colors and rare have the need to match threads since I no longer do garment construction, just quilting. I will use one color as a bobbin and the other on top so I can spot tension issues and such. I use a tight small stitch and don't have many issues with the thread color showing -- or maybe it is just my vision issues!

I've seen articles/opinions talking about black thread and why is it that it gives more problems for both hand and machine sewing than light threads. The answer was (supposedly from people who worked at thread plants) that the black often started out as a different color that for whatever reason (overages, changes in fashion, or not meeting the dye lot/color requirements is redyed and rewound into black. Maybe it is self-fulfilling prophecy, but often when I have problems one day that I did not have the day before, it is that I am using black thread...

The reason I heard black thread causes more problems and may break easier than other threads is that it takes a lot of chemicals and dye to get a black color. It apparently is the hardest color to make. Anyway, I try and use my bobbins up and to wind just the number I will need to begin a project with (OK, a lot of times I don't guess right) I have one friend who when she comes to quilt with me will use one of my machines and she just keeps putting in the bobbin with the least amount of thread on it to use it up. I like when she comes! I have been mostly using 50 weight thread for my piecing but I also check the thread when using up those bobbins as I don't want to use embroidery bobbin thread or thicker thread either way. I do a lot of scrappy quilts and usually use a neutral color to piece so most blend in pretty well anyway. When I do unwind bobbins, sometimes I just stick them in a jar and let them bounce around as I pull it off or I just use them as my exercise program for the day chasing those rolling bobbins around the floor.

This made me laugh - thanks for that! :-)

Most attribute it to Plato.

Why is it that if you're gonna drop ANYthing during the course of the day, it's one of these 4 things:
1) A full bobbin,which then runs 25 feet away from you. I have to race the cat to get to it. And it's never an empty bobbin!
2) My sewing scissors, and they always land point down.
3) A glass, and usually it's full of red wine, not white, and of course I never drop an empty glass.
4) Dinner as you're pulling it out of the oven. I never drop it as I'm putting it INTO the oven.

I rarely unwind a bobbin. I toss it in a basket to use for hand sewing projects. I buy new bobbins if I don't have an empty one. Thread is now more expensive then a package of bobbins.