Help! funky bobbins with microquilter thread
 

I recently bought microquilter (100 wt.) polyester thread because it is supposed to be great for machine applique. Today I am finally trying it, and I do like it, but am having problems getting a nicely wound bobbin. The bobbin keeps winding punky soft, and sometimes loopy. The spool is too large to fit in my machine's horizontal spool holder area, so it sits behind the machine in a glass. I have wound a bobbin with limited success and some difficulty by increasing the tension with the thread running through my pinched fingers as well as the other couple of places it's supposed to go. With such thin thread, it really takes forever to wind it by hand, which is what I have resorted to doing, twice now.

I am open to any and all suggestions/solutions you have found when using such thin thread. It's Sunday, or I'd try phoning Superior about their thread.

Wind it from the funky bobbin onto another one. That beats doing it by hand. Maybe slow down a bit . I've had that problem before. Do you have one of those little nets that fit over the cone thread? Sometimes that helps. Sometimes I let the thread slide through my fingers just at the top of the cone.

Where did I see someone running the thread through a foamy popcorn packaging piece with really thin thread to increase the tension?

I love that thread! But I'm using it on a longarm, and I have a stand-alone bobbin winder that handles it just fine. This bobbin winder does add tension as it winds.

Try wrapping it twice around the bobbin tensioner as well as pinching it between your fingers. I know it takes forever to wind thin thread this way, but it's what I do when winding bobbins for my embroidery machines. I tend to wind 10-20 bobbins at a time so I have to do it less often.

Cari

My machine has a screw in the top of the bobbin tensioner. Just give it a turn to tighten it for that thread.

I love to micro quilt with Superior's new Microquilt 100wt thread. I use it in the long arm, but used either Bottom Line or SoFine in the bobbin and have no problem with it

Thank you everyone for your help! I think I have solved the problem by winding the thread a second time around the little button at the beginning of the thread path for the top thread. Now instead of going around the button partway, the thread goes around a complete turn and partway. Cari-in Oly suggested that, and it seems to have worked. Yay!

I don't know if my machine has a screw in the top of the bobbin tensioner or not. Going to have to check for that for future reference.