How exactly does a sewing machine make a stitch without making the needle actually go all the way through the fabric? 

When sewing machines were first invented, that was the hardest question to answer. 

The answer?

Use two sources of thread that would wrap around each other to secure a stitch as opposed to a single piece of thread being woven in and out of the fabric. 

In order to be able to have two sources of the same color thread, the bobbin was developed and it worked so well that it is still used in sewing machines today! 

But those who are new to sewing machines may not know exactly why a bobbin is needed or how to wind one. 

So today we are talking about how to wind a bobbin and why the heck you even need one in the first place.

How does a machine make a stitch?

Before we get started it might help to understand how a sewing machine actually makes a stitch so all of the parts make sense later. 

If you’ve ever sewn anything by hand you’ll recognize a sewing needle, long, thin, and pointy, with a hole at the far end for the thread to go through. When you hand sew, the sharp end goes through the fabric first pulling the thread behind it. 

A sewing machine works in the opposite way. The eye of the needle is at the end that punctures the fabric first and the rest of the needle follows. 

Because a sewing machine can’t put a needle all the way through the fabric and back around like typical hand sewing, sewing machines push the thread through the fabric, instead of pulling it through, so only part of the needle needs to go through the fabric to make a stitch.

As the needle pulls back up, it creates a loop of slack in the thread that a metal shuttle under the fabric hooks on.

The shuttle grabs on to the needle’s thread and rotates around the bobbin pulling the thread with it. As it rotates, it catches the bobbin thread preventing the needle thread from slipping back through the fabric and creating a stitch! 

So in order to learn how to thread a sewing machine, you’ll need both halves of the stitch: the threaded needle, and the bobbin. 

Today we are focusing on how to wind a bobbin but if you are looking for more on how to thread a sewing machine, I have another tutorial on how to thread the top half of a sewing machine that you can find here!

What even is a Bobbin?

A bobbin is a removable portion of the sewing machine that looks like a miniature version of an antique industrial wire spool (the kind that is often repurposed into rustic tables). A bobbin can be either plastic or metal, either is fine to use and there is no distinct difference that I am aware of that would make you want to choose one material over the other (other than price when buying extras).

All a bobbin does is serve as an additional mini “spool” of thread to make the bottom half of the stitch in the sewing machine without having to use an actual separate spool of thread. Learning how to wind a bobbin allows you to make both halves of the stitch with the same spool of thread. 

The nice part is that by using a bobbin you are able to exactly match thread colors on both the top and bottom half of the stitch, and you don’t need to buy 10+ preloaded bobbins just to make a quilt. 

Threading the bobbin

Look on the right hand side of the top of the machine. You should see a short metal spindle sticking straight up, likely next to a round white plastic bumper. 

Take your bobbin and pop it on the metal spindle until it clicks into place and is secured on the spindle. It does not matter which side faces up.

Start with the spool of thread on top and hook the first thread guide. Look for a circular metal thing sticking straight up on the top of the machine.

This circular metal thing is a bobbin winder tensioner. It controls the tension as the machine winds the bobbin so it can’t wrap it too tight or too loose. 

Too tight and the sewing machine might break the thread as it sews from the tension, too loose and it’ll likely get bound up inside the machine making a huge mess of thread. So the tensioner is definitely important.

Wrap your thread around the bobbin tensioner in a clockwise direction. It should wrap all the way around the tensioner and cross over itself at the top so it can then move to the bobbin. 

To start off, wrap the thread around the bobbin a few times, also in a clock wise direction, until it can hold itself in place without unraveling. 

With your thumb, press the bobbin, still on the spindle, to the right until the small assembly physically moves and clicks over and into place. This will take control of the machine pedal from the needle, and control the bobbin winder instead. 

Now you can gently step on the pedal until your bobbin has comfortably started winding securing the thread on the bobbin. Once you have a bit of thread on the bobbin you can put more pressure on your pedal and wind it as fast as you like. 

Once the bobbin has filled up to the point where the thread is touching the white plastic bumper, you can stop filling it and push the bobbin assembly back to the left, giving control of the pedal back to the needle. 

Take the bobbin back off the spindle and cut the thread to separate it from the main spool. You have officially learned how to wind a bobbin and are ready to move on to installation!

Installing the bobbin

Most newer machines will have a picture somewhere on it to indicate which direction your bobbin needs to face. 

For the heavy duty Singer, the bobbin needs to sit in the slot as it sits below so the thread winds in a clockwise direction. 

Sit the bobbin in the slot and, taking the loose end of the bobbin thread, pull the thread back until it slides behind the metal piece, you may hear a small click as it falls in place. Pull some thread out from the bobbin so there is a bit of slack for the machine to grab.

To pull the bobbin thread through the machine, gently hand crank the wheel on the right hand side of the machine while holding both the needle thread and bobbin thread. Note: This requires you to have the top half of the machine already threaded.

The needle will move down, and the shuttle will rotate and hook the bobbin thread with the needle thread.

Once you’ve done a full turn out the hand wheel and you’ve watched the needle thread get shuttled around the bobbin, gently pull the needle thread and it will pull up the bobbin thread with it. 

Move both threads off to the side and replace any doors or inserts covering your bobbin. 

And that’s all there is for how to wind a bobbin! You’re ready to get started sewing!

Great Basic Sewing Machine

This Heavy Duty Singer sewing machine that I’m demonstrating on today is one of the best beginner sewing machines that I’ve used. 

When you are learning, you don’t need all the distractions and high priced bells and whistles of some of the fancy machines out there today. You just need to be able to go forward and backward. 

If you’ve explored any of the finished quilts in my gallery page of my blog here, you’ll be happy to know that at the time I’m writing this, every quilt on this blog was made using this basic machine. So if you are just learning to sew, or learning to quilt, and don’t want to spend your life’s savings on a sewing machine just to learn, this Singer is my go to option. 

It is definitely one of the cheaper sewing machines available today and because the heavy duty model has all metal parts inside, a beginner would find it hard to break. I love how versatile this sewing machine is, its the perfect price for just small projects like hemming clothes, while “heavy duty” enough to be able take on big projects like quilts as well.

If you want to get started with your first sewing project and want to look into this Singer more, be sure to check it out on Amazon here!