On my 6 needle, I use white or black pre-wound bobbins when stitching out lace. You really can't tell that the thread isn't the same as top thread. It's a pain in the tuchis to wind bobbins for this machine since it can be testy at times.

On my Ellisimo however, I pre-wind bobbins with the same color as the top thread. I use that machine if I'm making ornaments or bookmarks (use the 6 needle for doilies).

teri

I have 3 single needle machines with built in bobbin winders, but I wind all my bobbins with a sidewinder. I love it and it's faster than the built in winders. I can wind bobbins while the emb machines are stitching.

I've a 4-needle with built-in bobbin winder that can be run while the machine is sewing. I use that for coloured FSL, for the white I use pre-wound bobbins size L.

I bought a side-winder and size L bobbins don't fit on it :(

Since I don't have one of those machines or that size bobbin - I will leave you with a *

I have both types of machines, I use a side winder to wind the bobbins for my multineedle machines. The problem with using the multineedle with FSL is that you have to stop with each color change and change your bobbin thread. I have found it much easier to use my sewing/embroidery if there are multiple color changes.