Organising bobbins

I thought I'd take some time out from today's craft project to write about how I keep my bobbins tidy. I try to use what I have around the house to keep my craft area tidy, so my sewing bobbins are in a ziploc sandwich bag, rather than buying a new storage solution. This meant they were all getting tangled, something that I'm sure would still happen if I kept them in a box or clipped to the top of a spool:

These are the bobbins I took on holiday with me, they were only in the bag for a week but are already coming unwound and getting tangled.

I'd used plumbers tape (aka Teflon tape) for sealing things before, so already had a reel on hand, and it is perfect for keeping bobbins securely wound. Simply wind your thread tail onto the bobbin, cut a length of tape (10cm or so) and wind it round the bobbin, pressing it to itself to seal it. Plumbers tape is not sticky, it only adheres to itself, so doesn't leave thread or bobbins sticky. It is also easy to remove, just stroke the end of the folded down tape up, roll off & set aside until you finish using that bobbin. It does mean the sides of all the bobbins are white, but you can see what colour they are from the top, and I've started writing the colour code on the top of the bobbin with sharpie marker. There - tidier bobbin bag!


It is also useful for winding round cops. I love the 'COTTY' thread from my local quilting shop, but it doesn't come on a notched spool for keeping the thread tidy, so I simply wrap a strip of tape round the middle keeping the thread end tidy. Here's the box with my spools & cops of thread (stored on thin dowels), bag of bobbins & overlocker cones.

Best of all, the reel of plumbers tape is 12m long, so will go very far, and cost 99p. Hope this helps!