I’ve been trying to figure out the best longarm bobbin and thread for me, if there is such a thing.  I had been told that the pre-wound bobbins are best for tension issues because they are wound consistently.  Here is some of my selection of bobbin types so far:

The first two sets of bobbins are Bottom Line polyester pre-wound with cardpaper bobbin.  I liked these.  The thread rarely breaks and the tension remains consistent.  I will continue to use these for the commonly used neutral thread colors.

The third set of bobbins is the same thread but with a plastic bobbin case.  I find these harder to get a consistent tension, but it seems the smaller orders of bobbin thread come with the plastic bobbin.

I also have some magnetic plastic bobbins which, I admit, I am not eager to try and have not had the opportunity either.

Another sample that I didn’t include in this picture is a cotton thread with a plastic bobbin case.  I don’t like these at all as the bobbin thread continually breaks, and as I mentioned, I have tension issues that I attribute to the plastic bobbin.  So this product was a double negative whammy.

Because the polyester thread does not break and because I was frustrated with the cotton thread and plastic bobbins, I broke down and wound my own bobbins.  I think this will be the way I go in the future for colorful thread, at the very least.  There was no tension issue.  There was no thread breakage. I did have to change the bobbin more often due to less thread on the self-wound bobbins, but I can live with that.  Now there will be no guessing on matching the bottom color of pre-wound bobbins with the top thread color.  BTW, for the top thread, my favorite is Omni poly wrapped poly, which has the appearance of cotton, but has the strength advantage discussed above.

So this is the way of my future…for now.  What type of thread and bobbin do you prefer?