Yes, this has happened to me. I also think it has something to do with how the bobbin winds. I have a Brother machine, I wonder if it has something to do with the make of the machine. Anyway, I just purchased a bobbin winder and I hope that solves my problem.

I have several machines and have had it happen on most of them before I realized that when the bobbin is wound, I needed to be sure the inside end wasn't sticking out somewhere. When two ends are available, the machines don't figure out which one should be picked up -- funny, not even these smart ones can. Usually the inside thread winds on the bobbin nicely, but sometimes. . .

See!!! I'm not the only one who's machine has to show her who's really in charge!!! I find that on my BabyLoc if the bobbin isn't wound exactly the machine wants it that day it does the same thing. Sometimes I have to go thru three or four bobbins to get one that she likes. The next day she'll take on that she refused the day before. This even goes for pre-wound bobbins. just make sure to keep the inside of your bobbin enclosure clean and free of little bits of yuck and broken needle tips.

No idea what happened,but boy it looks ghastly for you I hope you find out what caused it.

they are called gremlins

This kept happening with my new Brother today at quilt class. I think I need a spacer like Leah Day sells to prevent the jumping bobbin.

I think I can make my own out of the silicone oven liner I bought for FMQ.

Brother's are very bobbin "fussy". You have to make sure you are using the right bobbin. Most of the time they cannot be bought right off the shelf. I used to buy mine straight from Brother to make sure I got the right ones, and they do look different from the ones 'off the shelf'. Make sure you have it threaded correctly for bobbin winding. I didn't get it right at first, and messed up a few bobbins. THEN I read the manual, looked at the machine, re-threaded, and all went well. Watch the bobbin carefully as it winds. You may not have to do this so much with your machine. I had a much cheaper machine, but still have heard that Brother's can be "bobbin fussy". Just watch that the bobbin winds smoothly. I never filled mine all the way..... just went to just shy of full. Otherwise I was pulling thread off the bobbin and wasting it. I've had to do that with other machines, so I don't think that is unique to Brother's. Get one of those "Bobbin Genies". I think that's what they call them. The little round circles of teflon that fit in the bobbin case and let the bobbin ride freely. Makes a difference, in all machines! Then just make sure you insert it correctly, and bring up the bobbin thread, and that goes smoothly. As long as I had well wound bobbin thread that came up smoothly to the top the first time I pulled it up, I never had a problem.

I wouldn't let a little problem like this stop me from buying a machine I wanted. On the other hand, since my first bad experience, I have never bought a machine model that I didn't first spend a couple of hours sewing on before I made my decision. It's just too important of a decision, at least for me, and I think for most serious quilters and sewers.

Thank you so much for the info and suggestions! You were kind to take the time!

I bought a cheap Brother and used in class yesterday. It was annoying because the bobbin thread kept catching and I'd have three threads to pull out. Also, it doesn't have an up/down button and most times when I hand cranked it would pull the thread out of the needle. So I started holding both threads about six inches out. I am going to make a bobbin Genie out of a silicone oven liner I bought for FMQ and see if that helps. I did buy bobbins specifically for the Brother, with the right part number, on ebay really cheap. I compared them and they were identical.

I found out I had to sew much slower than I do on my Janome to prevent the bobbin from acting up.

Thanks for all the great advice you've given her (and us) on this topic.

I have a Janome 6600P and was told by my repairman that I needed to wind my thread around the round feeder on the top of my machine 2x before adding the bobbin for winding. He told me that the extra tension it provided would make a tighter wound bobbin and that would prevent it from unwinding and causing a tangled mess underneath. Hope this helps you out.

I found that works with my Janome. Also, holding the thread up top really tight until bobbin is partially wound, then clipping it. I was initially frustrated by the bobbin winder and bought a Sidewinder that was lousy.

I loop around the back guide a couple of times to make sure the tension is tight.

I certainly would have been happy to try that on my cheap Brother! It seemed like the thread being wound onto the bobbin was always too loose. I can't tell you how many time I had to take a seam ripper to a bobbin and tear off all the thread and start over. Won't help me now as I've spent so much on repairs on that cheap thing that I've surpassed (in 10 months!) what I originally paid for the machine, and now I'm trying to get my money back. Guess what the problem was that finally brought me down? The bobbin locked up so badly, with fabric in place, that I had to cut the fabric away, and just leave it. I can't move the needle up or down, or get the bobbin out. It's just stuck. And I just paid $89 to get the exact problem fixed, got it home, and didn't even make it through a 10" block before it did it again. Enough! Time for a Janome!

it happened to me but not that bad i just changed the bobbin case now it seems to work again. i hope ...:thumbup:

I've never seen that done before either.

Yes it is the bobbin winders fault! LOL. I've had a few of them myself. I mourn the thread wasted not the bobbin. I don't want to look at all that thread that got mangled up so I toss the whole bobbin and start over and forget it.