Been quilting a lot lately, in a lot of different colours. This has me thinking about thread storage.
I used to have a box, just a paper box, filled with thread. Actually, I still have it, but I don't use any of that thread anymore because my Pfaff really doesn't like to sew with Sulky. Since switching to Presencia thread I've only bought colours as needed. Until this rainbow showed up it was all content to sit in a vase in my dining room.
Now, however, the vase is overflowing and I've got bobbins a plenty filled with pretty colours. Before I jump in the car and drive to the store I wanted to ask you, my readers, for your thread storage ideas.
Do you store the bobbins with the corresponding thread?
If yes, how?
If no, how?
Is it better to have it in a box?
I welcome any tips you've got.
19 comments:
I have two thread racks that I bought at Joann attached to the wall behind my sewing machine. The pegs are just long enough that I can fit a bobbin underneath the spool of thread. Picture on my blog at http://eschhousequilts.blogspot.com/2010/10/thread.html
I do the same as Esch House does. If the spool is too long for adding the bobbin, I stick a Q-tip in the spool hole and put the bobbin on top of that. Sounds a little weird, but it works!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42308891@N07/5471143262/
I only have 5 bobbins, so when I need to use one that already has thread on it, I unwind it onto an empty spool to use later (usually for stitching my binding later). Not really a sorting tip, but that's how I do it :)
I keep my thread on a rack, usually organized by color. My bobbins have their own little storage case that fits 40 or so bobbins. I have a little tray that holds 5 bobbins that are the ones I use most often and am constantly refilling. It also holds my go to presser feet, normal, 1/4", 1/4" w/ guide, darning and zipper--amazing really how often I use that zipper foot!
I'm not happy with my thread storage really, but here's what I do. Because we have our windows open so much of the time, everything accumulates a lot of dust -- and most of it contains a lot of dirt and pollen. So, I never leave any fabric or thread out and uncovered, like on the spool racks people are using above.
I got a clear plastic bin for storing thread. It holds maybe 40 spools in rows of 5 spools. The bin is too shallow to store the bobbins on the same peg and still get the lid on, so I have a separate bobbin bin that has 5 rows of 25. I pick 25 of my spools that have bobbins wound and store them in the same order in the bobbin bin. Other bobbins tend to get thrown in the thread bin.
I help keep the bobbins sorted by using different color bobbins. I have a Viking and it uses special bobbins to tell you when the bobbin is about to run out. You can get these bobbins in different colors and I use one color for polyester threads, one for my basic 50wt cotton, one for my Auriful, etc. That way if I'm having trouble telling one color from another I might be able to sort it out by the bobbin color.
When I got a bunch of stuff from my grandmother she had actually taken tiny pieces of scotch tape and labeled the bobbins with the thread weight (took me forever to figure out why some said "30" or "40" on them!).
Not a great solution, but it's what I do!
I have the Clover Stack 'N Store for my bobbins and I absolutely LOVE it. Its super portable too and I don't have to worry about the bobbins unwinding themselves from all the bouncing around in my sewing box when I go places. I even bought one for my girlfriend and she loves hers:-)
http://www.amazon.com/Clover-Stack-Store-Bobbin-Zieman/dp/B002BOSYW4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1298481820&sr=8-1
For my thread I have a thread rack and I just throw what I need in my box when I'm on the go.
I like to know what is on my bobbins and I like them out of the light, dust, moisture, etc. The best way I've found is those very small zip lock or fold over sandwich bags. The ones for candies and cookies. I pop the thread and the bobbin in them and then I throw them into a stacking plastic storage bin with shelves. No room in my room so they hide out in the closet. They are stored by colour. Not ideal as I have to do some searching but I pull the colour drawer and bring it to the light. The odd one has a tension note included.
No WIP post from me as I'm binding a quilt for delivery tomorrow. Then I'm off for the weekend but I'll try to get around. I do appreciate WIP and all the great comments.
Isn't that frustrated that high end machines are SO darn picky about thread!? Drives me nuts sometimes.
I counted my threadspools once. I got to 200 or so. Since then, I've been to an estate sale & bought 80 more. ! No kidding. Those racks are never enough.
For thread painting I need lots (like I have 5 different greys and 14 blues). Those I put in ziploc snack bags. They are the size of a half sandwhich, and 8 gutermann or mettler thin spools fit nice and lay all in a row. I have a dozen bags like that with the colors all organized. The bags sit in a shoe box.
My sewing threads are on the wall. I have a spice rack shelf which is wood and pretty and awesome. : ) Garage sale find. And then I have a wooden medicine cabinet with a stained glass door. That's my favorite thread storage!! I want more of those. Again - a garage sale find.
Bobbins - they tangled together in an open box. lol
Monika in Saskatoon
Tanya! That's the way to go! ps- it works for dishes too. If you only have one pot, one cup, one spoon, & plate per family member, you never end up with a kitchen full of dirty dishes! :)
hehe
Too many bobbins are just that - too many bobbins. ; )
~Monika
I use different threads, so I could never store my bobbins separately or I'd have a lot of trouble remembering what went with what. I store my threads in a plastic shoebox (lid off) in a drawer, and I attach the corresponding bobbin(s) using a long twist tie that I thread through the thread spool and bobbin, then twist together at the end. It's not pretty, but it's effective.
I have all my thread organized in plastic bins for storing threads or stacked in a wooden box. No open storage here, as it gets all dusty pretty soon. My 15 bobbins (different colors and several with neutrals for bigger projects) are in a flat bobbin box with at least one always empty.
I bought one of those plastic drawer units that is meant to hold office supplies. It is just the right depth to hold spools upright. My bobbins are in a bobbin case. I'm just starting to experiment with different types of thread, so in the future I can see that I'll need to figure out a way to keep bobbins the the correct spools.
I could use some tips on keeping my bobbins from unwinding themselves.
I wind at least 2 bobbins at a time of my basic piecing thread and whatever I'm quilting with so I don't have to unthread and rethread the machine as often.
I love my thread storage system! I have a little 5-drawer rolling cart, without wheels it fits under my sewing machine table (when folded out) and beside it when I'm in compact mode. One drawer is just for thread and here's how I sort:
Becel margarine containers: sorted by colour, and when I get enough I break out into a new bin. Initially I had black/white/grey, cool colours, warm colours (3 bins).
Now I have B+W, Warms, purple and pink, blue and green, neutral/browns (my husband has a lot of different khaki pants). What I like most about the Becel containers is they come in a large and small size. Bobbins go in their own little bobbin holder. Bobbins of quilting thread go in THEIR own bobbin holder.
Quilting thread has its own bin (all colours together). That's mostly because I've only actually quilted three quilts so far and don't have many spools. Serger thread is in a shoebox on a shelf.
I have the most disorganized system for thread and bobbin. I guess I never considered keeping them together really...hmmm...I like this idea!
System? What system? Currently, my thread can be found in 2 bowls, 1 plastic thread box, 1 small spool rack, and scattered along several table tops throughout the house. The bobbins are in a tray next to my sewing machine.
Now, eldest daughter is planning on moving into her own place after she graduates from college this year, and I'm hoping to move my "studio", (now situated in a cramped corner of my bedroom) into her room, at which point I will develop a more professional system to thread storage. (At least that's the story I'm telling myself!)
I have a wooden spool rack that hangs on the wall with the current thread sorted by color. About 48. Then years ago my mom gave me some handibobs. Plastic bobbin holders that fit on the top of spools. Here is a link http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/supplies/bobbins/handi+bobs+bobbin+spool+holder.do . I dont know why I don here about these. BTW my over flow thread is kept in the drawers of one of two 3 drawer wooden DMC cabinets I bought for ten bucks when Roses went out of business.
i'll show you my thread sorting system when you get here on monday! yipee!
My standard black, white and ecru threaded bobbins live in the bobbin storage spot in front of my sewing machine. For other threads, I push a long twist tie through the bobbin hole and spool hole and "tie" them together with two or three twists. Works for any size or shape spool of thread.
I have a spool holder from Joann and then I bought a bunch of bobbin holders that keep my bobbins with the spool from Nancy's Notions: http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/supplies/bobbins/handi+bobs+bobbin+spool+holder.do
I've tried other bobbin holders, but this is my favorite. Good luck finding the right solution!
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