A few years ago I was looking for a way to store my ever expanding thread collection, and the bobbins. Some of the colors were so close to each other that at night I couldn't tell which bobbin matched which spool. And other times I wound a bobbin only to discover I already had a bobbin with that color. I wanted a way to store the two together so they were together, with no confusion.
None of the thread racks I found had dowels long enough to hold both the spool and the bobbin, so I asked my husband to make me a thread rack. And he did! Ran out of dowels and meant to get more, but life happens and I didn't have that much thread. Yet. Soooo, I started using it and it was awesome! But, clumsy me, I've broken off quite a few of the dowels cuz we never did manage to get it hung up on the wall. ( Broke 2 more while doing this post.)
Then I discovered this awesome trick of using a clear tubing to keep the bobbin thread from coming undone. And since the tubing is clear, it's easy to see what color the thread is! I went to the Home Depot and found some clear tubing slightly larger than the shank of the bobbin. It took some trial and error to cut it the right width, but I've been loving it ever since!
It's now time to find another storage solution, since I have more thread than attached dowels and no wall space to hang my thread rack up. I found an awesome solution on Pinterest a few weeks ago and I think it's going to work really well.
I picked up some golf tees at Walmart the other night. And then after much searching, decided to use the lids to my pattern boxes until I can find something better, and ta-da!
Now I can just grab the spool with attached bobbin and I'm good to go. =)
I have a sturdy box (now covered in a very pretty fabric) that is about 18" x 24" x 8". I am going to combine two of the three thread/bobbin holder suggestions in your blog. I purchased foam board and small dowels at the dollar store. I cut the foam board the same size as the bottom of the box MINUS 1" all around. Then I will paint the foam boards and dowels. When the paint is dry, I will 1)poke holes in the foam board (spaced to hold the spools of thread) 2) cut the dowels to the correct size (long enough to hold the thread and bobbin PLUS 1/4"and 3) place the dowels into the holes. The box is deep enough that I can have two "shelves" and it will be easy to lift the boards out to get the spools of thread and bobbins (encased in the plastic tubing). I hope this makes sense.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea ! I love it sew much I'm linking it at my facebook page , I hope you get lots of visitors .
ReplyDeleteLove youre idea. I will look for the tees :)
ReplyDeleteI have some bobbins savers from Nancy's Notions and they are terrific. They pop in the top of the spool of thread and hold the bobbin. Check it out. I think you will find them terrific as I do.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea. I have just posted this on my blog and linked back to you :-)
ReplyDeleteThe peg board is an old idea but I love the bobbin with the tee. My machine is old and still uses the metal bobbins so this will be even more helpful when I can put them together. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of tubing did you use? What section is it in at Home Depot? Did you cut it open? Thanks Very clever with the golf tees.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted you to know that I used the golf tee idea from your blog and it works perfectly. Now my bobbins are matched to the thread.
ReplyDeleteI'm a mother of 9,too! We are always looking fir ideas to store things that don't cost an arm and a leg,LOL! My sons have bought skateboarding shoes for yrs (last longerthan other tennies). The boxes they come in are great for storing my quilting projects.
ReplyDeleteWhat's a pattern box?
ReplyDeletethat is a great idea! i saw a thread storage that used golf tees instead of dowels but the problem of the bobbins remained.
ReplyDeleteoh, now i need golf tees to organize my threads and bobbins. i think the box i keep my thread in is high enough to accommodate the tee.
GENIUS!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tips---just starting a sewing/craft room. Tees are
ReplyDeletea great idea---also can use very thin straws that are just long enough to hold bobbins-----(cut to length)slide over dowel or nail and spools and bobbins are matched up.
Thank you for the tips---just starting a sewing/craft room. Tees are
ReplyDeletea great idea---also can use very thin straws that are just long enough to hold bobbins-----(cut to length)slide over dowel or nail and spools and bobbins are matched up.
Love the golf tee idea. I have lots and lots of reels. Going to try this.
ReplyDeleteYeeeah! I found a bag of golf tees at local thrift store. Going to do this for sure.
ReplyDeleteI have been on my computer for hours today, looking for a way to place some kind of spool holder into the 6-drawer plastic storage cabinets on wheels. I am going to purchase some golf tees and hot glue them to the bottom of the drawers (I have 500 spools of thread) spacing them for spool sizing (I have large and small spools of threads). My concern is that I'm wondering if the hot glue will adhere to the plastic drawer bottom for a long period of time. I've used the hot glue on plastic in the past and it did not stick for more than a week. I think I will try something similar to a golf tee to see if, in fact, it will adhere. So happy that I found this blog!!!
ReplyDeleteI received a wicker Hamper for xmas, and if I use some polystyrene, I should be abled to two layers, if I use a thin layer of plywood and glue the second layer of polystrene to it then it should be stable enough to hold the tees and threads when I need to lift it out.
ReplyDeleteP.S. if the tees are pushed through from underneath and far enough then it should still stand straight and you would not need to remove the tee each time you needed to use the thread and spool. Val
ReplyDelete