OK so hmmmm... I should have been more clear - the spool of thread stays outside the machine. I have a small extension that fits on the machine so in essense you lift the little door up, then there is a small area and you open the bobbin case door. So the idea like Neesie said would be to feed the thread from the spool into the bobbin case, perhaps keeping the bobbin itself in the case and wrapping the thread around the bobbin a few times. So instead of the bobbin thread just feeding the machine with the wound thread, it would actually pull the thread from the spool. I wonder if its worth asking BabyLok?

A serger sort of operates off the same concept but no bobbin hook.

You still have the issue of how is the thread from the top needle passing around that "external" spool. If it doesn't pass all the way around the bobbin thread (or spool replacing the bobbin), you don't get a stitch.

I can't draw worth beans, but have a look at this. Blue is top thread, red is bobbin. See how the top thread made a loop, passed around the bobbin, to end up as a small "tack" across the bobbin thread. Doesn't work if the loop can't pass around the entire spool. Second picture - green is your thread extending to a spool - it prevents the blue from looping around the bobbin.

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My Bernina 830 has a huge bobbin!!! And my machine tells me when it's at 20%. I love that part!

Yes, why is it that we can put a man on the moon but we cannot make a simple attachment device to enable a sewing machine to use a spool on the bottom?!

Well, phooey! What we need to do, is reinvent the sewing machine! :p

Would your manual not tell you if that could be done? "I feel your pain"..haha..cause my emb machine drove me nuts with the message that bobbin was low..yet when I ck'd it would be half full. I finally adjusted the bobbin case/laser and now it is only a couple of yards from being empty when the message comes up. Plus, I've discovered the prewound bobbins have LOTS more thread than our machines will wind!

There was indeed a vintage machine that used a spool of thread in a can type holder underneath instead of a bobbin. Name- "Two Spools"! I think it was by National or Standard.

If your machine will allow you to set this up, you could try it by moving the handwheel in the proper direction slowly to see what happens in a few stitches. That way, if it won't form the stitch or binds up the bobbin case, you should be able to stop and not cause any harm -- I think --- lol. I'm curious. So if you try this, please post an update -- with photo.

I was even told if the bobbins are larger it might not work as well fmq