I bought one of the bobbin winders that are so popular, but I just can't seem to get it to wind a nice even looking bobbin. What am I doing wrong? I need help with learning how to use it properly, please help.

is the tension tight enough?

I just bought one and it wound the bobbin uneven also. I tried it again and it would not turn on to wind the bobbin. I am taking it back today!!!!!

It may just be that your unit is defective. I love mine, winds tightly. Try exchanging it.

Thank you.

I will check. Actually I didn't know that it had a tension adjustment. Mine is a Side Winder.

Mine is also a Side Winder and I will be returning it the next time I'm out. Might be a few days when the temp goes below 100*.

I got a Sidewinder as a gift and had the same thing happen. Besides that it kept falling over. I returned it, tried another, had the same problems and I gave up! I took that one back also.

:cry:

i don't have a sidewinder, but I hold the thread and guide it onto the bobbin. I have always done that even on my Bernina, so I don't think you have to on all of them, but I like it to go back and forth evenly so guide it. Good luck.

Sidewinder is a waste of $. Take it back.

I have a side winder and I'd be lost without it. Love it.

Did you put the keeper on the bobbin before winding it? I di9dn't do this and went thru ???? bobbins. I love mine now and you will to. Also thread the bobbin the arrow shows.
Good luck.

I love my sidewinder. Just make sure you follow the arrows as you thread it, otherwise it will not thread correctly.

I love my sidewinder. Just make sure you follow the arrows as you thread it, otherwise it will not thread correctly.

Can you please give me some pointers about using it? I must be doing something incorrectly. It makes a terrible lumpy mess on the bobbins. Is there soemthing I can adjust. What am I doing wrong?

I have the same problems with mine. I thought it was too good to be true when they came out. You know what "they" say about that! I also guide my thread. I don't use mine now.

I took mine back also..........Joann's asked me what was wrong with it...told her and she said 8 had already been returned :oops:

We bought one and returned it too...it was a mess of a product...I guide my thread even on my big machines...it didnt want to stay straight or wind tightly..I got my money back for more fabric

My husband got me a Sidewinder a couple years ago for Christmas. It was a piece of junk.....took it back!

I love my Sidewinder. You do need to guide the thread, but that is a minor inconvenience. I also need to guide the thread on my machine, so I don't see that as a problem. Mine doesn't have a tension control. Also, I do think it is too light, but nothing to make me hate it. Maybe you guys are being too picky.
Sue

If you don't follow the threading diagram, which looks backwards !!!! It won't work! I like mine!

I have one, hate it , but love it! Two things.. You either have to guide it with your finger as it winds ,or take off the the full bobbin, and put it where the spool of thread was and re- wind it again on an empty bobbin again... Then it will be even. Here all of this time ( two years) it was ME! I do it so fast anymore that I don't even give it a thought ..I just do it. I don't see any tension button on it..just seems to wind it uneven if you just it the button to let it do it's own thing, try guiding it with your finger as it winds on it,that should do the trick! Good Luck!

I bought the dritz one and could not get a tight wind either, took it back. If theres one out there that works please post

Ihave used my bobbin winder so many times and never had a lumpy or loose bobbin full of thread, be sure you push the bobbin all the way down on the post. I hold the thread with the left hand and turn it on, runs by itself and I cut the holding thread after a moment or two. I love the convenience. And be sure to thread it right, through the little loop, around the tension spool and through the hole in the bobbin and it does its thing.

Carol J.

I love, love my Sidewinder. I thread about 12 bobbins at a time so I am always ready to go. I put something behind/under the lid to steady it. I always follow the directions of the arrows. I leave a long tail when I start to wind and then let go after it starts winding. Sometimes I have to keep my finger above the spool so it doesn't fly off. I guess this sounds complicated but it really isn't. I would hate to give it up.

Love my sidewinder..it winds the thread better, more evenly than my machine!!!

Me too.

Mine sits in my closet. I went to prewound bobbins. They hold so much more thread.

I have one and it took a while to get used to it. I gently put pressure on the thread spool and have even used my finger to make thread move to top of bobbin so that it goes on more evenly. Both of my machine's bobb!in winder broke and so I had no choice but to work with it. Now I can get a nice even bobbin of thread. Good Luck

I bought one of those and took it back within a week. My machine just didn't like the bobbins wound on it.

Yes, I bought a sidewinder and it is a disappointment. Too light to sit upright and you have to fiddle with it to get it to work. Easier to just use my machine and it does a better job getting the right tension on the thread.

My understanding is that certain bobbins will not wind on the sidewinder - I am not sure which ones.

I have a sidewinder and love it. It saves me so much time in winding bobbins. Are you running the thread through the tension guide correctly?

My 1941 Singer won't make bobbins any more (everything else is perfect though) so a Side Winder is a necessity for me. Never had any problems with mine....

It's beginning to sound as though many Sidewinders are defective, but a number of them are not. I know that I tried mine every way possible, all the ways mentioned here. Nothing worked on either one that was purchased. Mine both came from the same lot at Joann's. My feeling is that it's a poorly made product even though the price is high enough that it shouldn't be. I wish some company would come out with a better one. The theory behind it is very good. Wind a bunch of bobbins without interrupting your sewing machine. It seems simple enough to let your kids do it for you. But, for me at least, it wasn't.
With the number of dissatisfied customers the company should be aware of what's going on. I wonder how many of us actually reported their problems to the company? :-(

Make sure it's threaded correctly. And you pull the pinup tightly where the spool goes. I love mine. I transfer thread from one bobbin to another depending on what machine I'm using. Never have to rethread my needle on my sewing machines, I love it !!!!

I really like mine. Hope you can figure out how to make it work better.

Aren't machines fickle? My machine has the opposite effect. It doesn't like the bobbins wound on itself, but it is more than happy to accept the ones from my sidewinder. Go figure...

I have a sidewinder, and never had any issues with it. I guess I must be lucky!

Had the Sidewinder - put it into the box for donations to Goodwill. No matter what I tried it was more effort than it was worth.