I find the prewound are excelent for my janome 350E how ever I did try the bobbinless version and found that as they got less thread on them they bounced around in the case causing no end of problems they were fine for half of there life hope thats a help hugs Shazells

I have only used the plastic sided ones and have very good luck with them. There are different sizes so you would have to look at your machine manual to determine which size you would need. The most recent ones I purchased were from metroemb.com.

I love prewound bobbins but have only used the plastic ones. Check your machine manual or ask your dealer to be sure.

I absolutely love prewound bobbins, make sure you find out your bobbin size. i.e., my designer 1 takes an 'L' bobbin. Now I have found that on my embroideries and with my machine that the best of the best seems to be Fil-Tec with the plastic sides. I know they come cheaper but at $30 for 124 I am happy with my choice. P.S. keep in mind these are for embroidery, the thread is much to thin for regular sewing.

I use prewond bobbins sure is better than windind them but I do do a lot of windine to.

I like the prewound bobbins. My Hus Viking SE uses the "L". I bought a box of 144 from smartneedle.com, when they had them on one of their "Flash Deals", they are the plastic ones. I had gotten some of the cardboard sided ones somewhere, I think I prefer the plastic. I've never tried sideless bobbins.

I have used prewound...not sure of size, but know that they are shorter than the bobbins that came with my machine. In answer to that problem, the shop sold me a $6.00 gadget that I sit in my bobbin case and then put the bobbin on the post on the center of my thingy. It's job is just to make up the height difference, and I have no problems. the bobbins I have used are plastic and I am clueless to the idea of a sideless bobbin...guess I never knew they existed. Can you tell I am new to the sewing world? :)

I hate them! Can never find the blasted end. I just use my sidewinder.

Hi, can't answer your question, but we've stopped using pre wound bobbins all together. a) We nearly always want to have the upper and lower thread of same colour. b) We can't see the advantage of the pre-wound bobbins since we've discovered how we can wind our bobbins more densly (and thus with longer thread.) The solution (for us) is simple enough: When winding the bobbin on our Bernina Artista 185, we simply keep slight additonal pressure on the winding-mechanism (pressing the little lever with the fingers) and "hokus-pokus" we end up with a lot more thread on the same bobbin...

I absolutely love NEBS pre-wound bobbins with the clear plastic sides. With some machines, the bobbin thread will not be recognized with cardboard sides. I have heard of horror stories of the sideless bobbin thread constantly getting tangled within the bobbin area and nesting. For the price, I will never wind my own.
Angel

Pleased I asked this question - not sure I am any the wiser but very interesting answers. Thank you and *4all

My 2 cents worth!!! I have tried prefilled with my Hus/Viking, and besides not being able to find the end to start, most of them cause a jam up in the bobbin case towards the end ofbobbin, about 3/4 way down. I rewind my own. I too, hold for extra tension on my filling thread. Hope you can make a decision. Try it out for yourself!!! Hugs, Judy

I love the prewound bobbins. my 2 brother machines love them too. I use the cardboard side one from All stitch. size L...144 for slightly under $20.00. they give you a chart so you figure out which one your machine will take. Will not wind my own again unless for some unknown reason I run out. Bobbin thread is expensive and for about the same price I can get 4 to 5 times more thread. Love for FSL don't run out in middle of design.
Hugs and flowers

I use the prewound bobbins some, but most of what I do seems to need the bobbin thread the same as the top. So - I have both. My machine will not use the sideless bobbins. I was given some of these, and the Scotch in me would not throw them away. So - I rewind them if I need it. I do not like the cardboard sided bobbins - they cause dust in the bobbin case, but do love the plastic sided ones. I bought my last ones at Metro, and got them with my thread - 144 for less than $15, and they were shipped with the thread that I ordered. I am still using them.

I love prewound bobbins especially for embroidery. I have a Designer 1 so I need the L size and only plastic sided bobbins are supposed to be used. As I understand it, there are 2 sizes of bobbins for home embroidery machines, A & L, and a 3rd M for commercial machines. There was supposed to be only 1 for home machines, L, but certain manufacturers decided to go with one of the others so you have to check to see what your machine uses. All 3 types come in sideless, cardboard and plastic sides. Some machines work find with sideless and cardboard and others will only work well with plastic sided. I would say it is best to ask your dealer what will work in your machine. I do have a sidewinder and also use my machine to wind a bobbins when I have to have the top and bottom threads match exactly. Is the water muddier now that we have all weighed in on your question? -- Aileen

My ellageo winds a great bobbin, but I love the Nebs. You do get more thread on them. No problem finding the end. Now I'm working on finding a good deal on A (size 15 bobbin) so I don't have to stop so often for the other machine. Tried a sideless one, and it did not work so well.
Jo