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Sewing Machine Tips: Determining Which Spool Pin You Should Use
Laura Stone RobertsDescription
Is your top sewing thread breaking too often? Are you getting tangles or knots in your top thread? One reason could be that you aren’t orienting your thread spool in the right direction. There’s a reason that sewing machines come with both vertical and horizontal spool pins. Join Laura Stone Roberts to learn the secret of why this is and learn how to determine for yourself which orientation to use with any given quilting project.
Sometimes when you're having problems with your machine. Or your stitches aren't forming just right. Or your thread keeps breaking. It's not the machine's fault. And it's not your fault. It's because there's a little something you don't know. And that is that different manufacturer's, wind their threads differently. And different rayon thread can be wound differently from cotton thread. And I'm gonna show you why you want to look at your thread before you decide which spool pin to use. So most machines come with both a horizontal and a vertical spool pin now. Although, there are still several that don't have one or the other. If you don't have a vertical spool pin. I had a machine for a long, long time that didn't have a vertical spool pin. So what I did, is I took just like a little. What it was, a child's paintbrush that had broken. And I put it on the side of my machine like that. And I taped it on there with duct tape. I taped it to smithereens. And that became my vertical spool pin. And you can do the same thing with a horizontal. Same idea. Just if you don't have both. You know, put you're thinking cap on and see what you can come up with so they you will have both vertical and horizontal. 'Cause you need them. And this is why you need them. Let me move that out of the way. Okay, gonna get this so you can really see what I'm doing here. All right, this is a rayon thread by Coats and Clark. I'm holding it vertically. As it would be if it were on a vertical spool pin. And I'm gonna do that. Now look at that. Do you see that? Isn't that cool? It doesn't tangle at all. If I hold it horizontally. Now we're getting a lot more tangle. What if I hold it horizontally the other direction? All right. This is rayon. It's not so bad, that tangly. But you can see, it was better off vertically. How about one that would use all the time? This is a pretty common brand of quilting cotton thread that I think is wonderful stuff. Okay, if I put this on a vertical spool and I pull. Like that. Put it together, look at that. Do you see how it wound up? Okay, if it's doing that when it's on the way to the needle, it starts twisting. It gets really hard going through the needle. It gets where it's much easier to break it. If I put it on a horizontal pin, see that? There's none at all. There's absolutely none. So I know that this brand, this specific color, this spool. For sure, needs to be horizontal. Usually if you have one that's gonna be horizontal with a brand. It'll be horizontal throughout the color range. But, doesn't hurt to look. Okay, here's another really common brand of quilting thread. So I'm pulling that out for like a vertical spin. Excuse me, vertical spool pin. And look at that, nice and straight. If I pull it out for horizontal pin. And not bad. I think that, you know, this one could maybe do either one. So that's a good one. We know that that one can go either direction. Here's another brand. And I'm gonna just pull it out. So it's on a vertical spool. Beautiful. Horizontal spool. Not bad either. But you can see that some, it makes a big difference on. So plus, where I am right now. I'm in Colorado and it is really, really dry. So when it's this dry in the air, you're gonna have less tangling of your thread. But if you're where it's humid, this is really gonna matter. So again, vertical spool pin. There's some winding. How about horizontally? Not nearly as much. So that's it. You just need to check your threads. You have all different brands out on the market now. I'm just gonna play with one more, since it's here. Okay, vertically. Hmm. Horizontally. Perfect. So that's what I would do. It looks like a tiny, little spin. Not much there when you're only holding 12 inches of thread. But when you think of the hundred of inches that run through your needle, it makes a difference. Well, I hope you enjoyed learning about that. And I hope you check your thread.
Thank you for highlighting this issue! I thought I'd heard it somewhere when I was a brand new beginner, but I have asked about it in sewing shops and been looked at like I have three heads & was speaking Martian... My little mechanical machine only has a vertical pin, so I avoid those spools that are wound "crisscross" style (which I heard work best horizontally.)
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</strong> Does it make a difference if the spool is H or V when winding the bobbin?
Well, that was just excellent! Thank you so much. I had no clue 🤪 One other question I would love an answer to is those spool holders, or caps you put on over your spool? I’m Husqvarna Designer II came with large ones, and little ones, as seen on your machine. Is there a method to which of these to use? I had a little spool of Coats Polyester thread that kept bouncing on the peg and the thread would break, I tried a little one but couldn’t put the holder too close or the spool wouldn’t turn as smoothly. Any suggestions?
Excellent tip, thank you. I have two Brother machines - one has vertical and the other has horizontal. Will be trying this next time I have a thread issue.
GENIUS! thank you for showing this!
Thank you. It explained a lot to me. I have a machine now that has both Horizontal and Vertical THread holders. :-)
This was very helpful. I've been sewing for years and did not know this about the different threads. So glad I watched this!
brilliant !
I have always determined whether the thread was crosswound or stacked as to whether or not to use the horizontal or vertical pin. This article discusses this in depth. http://www.heirloomcreations.net/sewing-tips/cross-wound-thread-vs-stacked-thread/