Thread System

How do you arrange your thread?  Is it convenient?  My daughter has hers in a cupboard on the other side of the room (at least it was when I was last there).  I have seen studios where a spool of thread does not appear out in polite company.  I have seen studios where spools of thread line the walls.  I even built myself a thread holder 30 years ago that held my Coats and Clark spools on the wall above my sewing machine.  I didn't need much then for clothing construction so it wasn't very big, but I had a 4' x 8' cutting table.  Now I have no cutting table because the ironing board will do, but I have become a thread-aholic with no wall space.

My thread is organized by type (cotton, polyester, silk) and to some extent by brand (Isacord, Bottom Line).  They reside in thread boxes purchased at big box stores.  Unfortunately, one box does not fit all so I have four or five boxes of differing sizes.  I know where everything is, usually, but these boxes are a pain to get into when I am engulfed in a quilt leaking out everywhere from under the sewing machine.  I continue to check out storage options whenever I am out.  Will there ever be a perfect system?

My biggest complaint is that there is no way to store bobbins with their individual thread spools.  The spool holders in boxes designed for thread are too fat to hold a bobbin.  Even the cute, folding, wooden spool holders at Joann's have no place to put a bobbin with the appropriate thread.  Besides, I have no room for one of those.  Thus, in addition to finding my thread, I have to hunt through my bobbin donuts, which I try to separate by donut color denoting thread type, but those sneaky bobbins are gregarious with all thread cultures and get mixed up anyhow.

I haven't solved all the storage problems, but I designed a thread holder for temporary use, which sits on the ironing board next to the sewing machine.  It holds thread and bobbin together so I can easily find what I need for the current project.  Of course, this holder is too tall for any of the plastic boxes, but I may be able to work on that.  Back to the drawing board!  For Isacord cones you can purchase a base, which locks the cones down and fits nicely by twos in a storage box, but can come out to play when desired.

My temporary thread system

Do you have any great ideas for storing thread spools and bobbins together?  I am open!

Sew a happy seam this week.