How to Wind a Bobbin for Smoother Weaving

When I started weaving, the last thing I worried about was winding a bobbin; it seemed sort of obvious. A weaving friend showed me her method, and that is how I wound bobbins for years. Sometimes I noticed my bobbin would catch as it passed through the shed, or I would have the oh-so-much-fun problem of weft falling off the ends and creating tangled loops, but I kept on. My friend’s method involved first building up the bobbin ends with weft, then filling in the middle, while keeping the threads as straight as possible. I didn’t even consider tension, which is silly since I’m always talking about how tension is important in all aspects of weaving. Oops!...

At the risk of seeming ungrateful, I can tell you that at least for me, the method I use now and the one I’m showing in this video is much better.

My Tips for Winding Better Bobbins

Although I stopped building up the ends somewhere along the line, I didn’t really change my approach until I took a class with Jannie Taylor a few years ago.

Jannie demonstrated how the weft flowed more smoothly off the bobbin if it wasn’t lined up and if the bobbin’s tension was tight. A well-wound bobbin, such as the one in the image below, can make your weaving life so much easier. Learning a better way of winding a bobbin was a somewhat-surprising game changer for me, and I hope it will be the same for you.

Weave (and wind) well,

Susan

A well-wound bobbin is firm and not over-filled.