Thread

I use Hugo's amazing tape to secure my spools. You can use clear vinyl from Wally world and cut it to wrap around the spool overlapping the ends so that it secures itself. DonnainNWONtario

I use the sticky paper around the top of the spools. They usually lift when you pop them on the sm so I stick a little piece on the loose end of thread.

Just thought I would check in after unpacking some more and I have come up with a question should have a fairly simple answer but at this point I don't know what it is.

I am still working on my new HUGE sewing room and I am putting all of my thread on a thread rack. I hate all those little stringy things hanging off of each spool. All of my older spools has the little slice in the spool where you can put the end back in but the newer ones don't have that. So, what do YOU do to keep it neat and tidy looking.

LOL Iris - since I've moved I'm going to TRY to be more neat and tidy in my sewing room. Can't guarantee that it will last but I'm going to give it a shot and I just can't stand all those little thingys hanging down.

Cindy, many of the newer spools have that double end where you can wrap the end around and snap it down. I skinny piece of press and seal or plastic wrap might work, too.

For bobbins the coolest trick is to go to the hardware store and purchase some clear plastic tubing with a 3/8 in. *inside* diameter. Cut the length of it in slightly less than 1/4 in. sections. Then cut a slit in the side each little section- I use my heavy duty kitchen shears to do all the cutting. Each ring will slip around the thread on the bobbin (full bobbin or nearly empty- they still work) and keep the ends tidy. And three feet of it costs less than $2 and will make a huge number of bobbin thread guards.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I use blue painters tape - it's sticky enough to stick to itself so I wrap it around the spool and onto itself but not sticky enough to leave a residue on the tape. Been using this since I got my first embroidery machine and have never had a problem. You must like the looks of blue tape though :)

-Irene

Water works. You can smooth the thread end in place on the spool or bobbin and swipe it down with a barely moistened fingertip. If you've just changed a carburetor or removed a toad from a boy's pants pocket, you probably will want to wash your hands first. You will probably want to wash your hands anyway. Polly

"Leslie& The Furbabies in MO." Cindy, many of the newer spools have that double end where you can wrap the

I have some prescription bottles. Each month the pharmacy gives me two new bottles. I have asked for just a little envelope. They can't/won't do that. I asked them to take my empty bottles and just refill them. Can't/won't. The bottles make good portable sewing kits, or bead caches, but enough is enough. They will hold bobbins. But i still have more bottles than I need.

G> Cindy, many of the newer spools have that double end where you can wrap t= he

Punch a hole in the lid of one and use the capped pill bottle to hold burred needles and bent pins plus the ker-blammed safety pin that you didn't intend to stitch over. Put one in your purse with whatever medication you might need away from home. Use some for cold cream and such that you need to carry on a trip but won't need a heavy cupful of. Some folks use them for toll booth or parking lot/meter coins. ( Do those still take coins or was that notion out of date?). Polly

G> Cindy, many of the newer spools have that double end where you can wrap > the

Yes they do still take coins...I always have change in my car when travelling just in case.

They're trying to phase out the coins here. For the last ten years we've had a "Pikepass" attached to windshield. We whiz thru the tollbooth at 75 mph now. Once the battery was dead in the Pikepass, and in the mail I got a clear, color photo of ME whizzing through the booth, with a Dear Deadbeat letter telling me I owed a $90 fine. The creepiness of technology. I think the real purpose of the Pikepass is that it doesn't "feel" like real money you're spending at the moment. So we don't gripe about the toll roads as much as we used to.

On topic: I love thread holders. But between the cats, and us going in and out the den door, and keeping windows open, it got all dusty and fuzzy. I had to put them in a pretty decorative box w/lid.

Sherry

Something we haven't mentioned and it is Important. Mr. Sunshine is your enemy. Don't place your thread where it is exposed to lots of light (not to mention eau d'crawfish boil). Find a way to cover and protect it. Polly

Not Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Sunlight.

I was just emailing with Sunshine. She is on a couple of my other forums. She does not quilt, but she does some unique stuff with "knitting" and beads and things.

I am up way too late, and clearly need to go to bed!

NightMist

I found a couple of plastic boxes with dividers in the tool box section Menard's (a home improvement store). It's just the right height size for Connecting Threads thread and Aurifil. There are 3 fixed dividers running the length of the box and moveable dividers (which I don't use) to subdivide those spaces. The box is 8.5x14x3 inches and is clear enough to see the colors through it.

Julia > Just thought I would check in after unpacking some more and I have come

This: >

Have you seen the little stretchy bands called Bobbin Bikinis? They are merely little girls' hair bands repackaged! They come in bright colors to appeal to little girls. Each one covers the bobbin, holding the thread neatly .... AND hiding the thread color! I think they may work slipped around the 'waist' of a thread spool to control that errant thread end. HTH. Pat in Virginia PS: Good luck on that "trying to keep the sewing room neat!" ;)