Sewing Machine Tips: Determining Which Spool Pin You Should Use

Laura Stone Roberts
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Duration:   4  mins

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.

Reply to Darlene
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16 Responses to “Sewing Machine Tips: Determining Which Spool Pin You Should Use”

  1. Michele Curtis

    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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  3. Gayle Mortimer

    Does it make a difference if the spool is H or V when winding the bobbin?

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    • Customer Service

      Hi,

      This depends on the machine brand and model you are winding the bobbin on, so you will need to consult your machine manual to see if the thread needs to be a certain way when winding the bobbin.

      Cheers,

      Ashley
      National Quilters Circle

      Reply
  4. Darlene

    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?

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    • Customer Service

      Hello Darlene,

      Thank you for contacting us.
      Unfortunately I do not know the answer to this question- however, I would recommend that you reach out to Grace Co. directly for questions about their frames:
      https://www.graceframe.com/en/machine-frames.

      If you have any other concerns, please contact us at 1-855-706-3538, or chat with us on our site.

      We greatly appreciate your business!

      Sincerely,

      Lindsay
      National Quilters Circle Video Membership

      Reply
  5. Bernice

    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.

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  7. Susan

    Thank you. It explained a lot to me. I have a machine now that has both Horizontal and Vertical THread holders. :-)

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  8. Marlene

    This was very helpful. I’ve been sewing for years and did not know this about the different threads. So glad I watched this!

    Reply
    • Ella

      Linda, I have seen articles like this before and it’s really not that cut and dry. The method shown by Laura Roberts is a much more accurate way to determine whether or not to use the vertical spool pin or the horizontal one. Thanks for this great video Laura, it was very helpful and informative!!

      Reply
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      Hi, Carole. We are sorry to hear you are having trouble viewing this video. We have tested this video successfully. Our video content is best viewed on a computer manufactured in the past few years with a good broadband internet connection (not dial up). We highly recommend using the latest version of Firefox or Safari as your Internet browser. Recent versions of Internet Explorer will work, as well. You will need Adobe Flash Player in order to view the videos. The recommended screen resolution is 1024 x 768 or larger. Please make sure your anti-virus software is updated and not blocking this website. Please let us know if you continue to have trouble with accessing the video content and we will perform additional troubleshooting with you by contacting us at 1-855-706-3538.

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