Customer Reviews

Simplicity SideWinder Portable Bobbin Winder

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It appears from the reviews that you either love this little gizmo, or you hate it. I'm afraid I come down on the latter side of the issue.

It should be such a useful little item, and I wish I could recommend it, but I honestly can't. I don't have much patience, but I am known for my creativity, and I exhausted both trying to get this product to work as advertised.

Thinking that my problem was the thread I was using and that the elasticity of nylon might be causing issues with the tension, I tried cotton thread with little more success. At least the nylon thread was easy enough to cut off the bobbin; cotton thread was a pain. I was going to try silk, but I decided even I wasn't that masochistic.

The bobbin tends to wind unevenly because the tension mechanism grabs the thread and becomes jammed. This causes the wildly winding bobbin to bunch the thread into the already assembled mass. Even when the mechanism is winding properly, the jumping of the bobbin creates major loops of thread that then get embedded into the oncoming material. Any thought of putting this mess into a machine would be shear insanity.

It seems highly likely that it is the speed of the winder that causes the problems I've seen. Certainly the ability to control the speed with the switch would have helped with all of the problems I've addressed. Unfortunately it doesn't even turn the machine off, only on, and one has to pop the lever designed to stop the machine when the bobbin is full in order to stop a miss-winding thread from doing any more damage.

This product is such a good idea. As one of the other reviewers notes, it really is a bother to have to unwind and rewind you machine to do your bobbins, and there really isn't any reason the idea shouldn't work. I note that there is a "new" model, but after dealing with this one and spending what I did to purchase it, I find myself unwilling to throw good money after bad should the "new" model work no better than the "old" one did.

A far better plan, certainly a cheaper and less frustrating one and the one I intend to employ, is to wind enough bobbins at the start of my project so that I don't have to use either my machine or a bobbin winder mid-project. Bobbins aren't that expensive, and I could have bought quite a few for what I paid for this device!

A little before its time, perhaps. Definitely needs to work out the bugs.

The SideWinder doesn't wind bobbins for my Bernina artista 730. It doesn't wind evenly and is almost impossible to remove the bobbin from the winding spindle.

What a disappointment!! My Pfaff bobbins will not go over the shaft on the Sidewinder. I understand the same problem exists for Viking machines. Our local quilt shop isn't reordering. And I am returning mine.

My bobbin rewind broke on my Singer and since everything else works on it and I love my machine, I didn't want to be without it waiting for a part. I happened upon the SideWinder and thought at first it seemed expensive, but it was cheaper than a repair on my machine so I bought it. It works. I haven't had it long so I can't speak for it's longevity but it does work quickly. My only negative is that you push the button to turn it on, but you can't push the button to turn it off. The machine stops automatically when the bobbin is full. But what if you don't want a full bobbin, then you have to either pull the plug or remove the batteries - very inconvenient. So, I would have given it a five if they would have made an "on/off" button instead of just an "on".

I bought this device because when I use the bobbin winder on my Singer Quantum Futura CE-100 in embroidery mode, sometimes the software driver gets "confused" about whether the bobbin winder is still being used or not. Having a separate bobbin winder has let me avoid this problem entirely, thus saving quite a bit of time and frustration. It would probably also be useful if the bobbin winder on one's machine was broken, thus letting one avoid a repair bill for at least a little while.

Issues I've observed:

- The model I have won't hold the larger spools of thread which I use for quilting and embroidery. However, I've gotten around this problem by holding my spools on a knitting needle while using the winder. If one has a thread stand, that could probably be pressed into service instead.

- An "off" button would be very nice! Of course, the machine turns off automatically when bobbins fill with a certain amount of thread. One can also toggle the little thread-sensing lever and turn the winder off. However, I've run into a couple of situations where I didn't have enough hands - I was holding a spool of thread on a knitting needle, the bobbin wasn't winding quite right, and turning the winder off required some fumbling around.

- The product has a cheap feel about it, and the motor doesn't seem particularly powerful. Only time will tell how durable these winders are. However, it probably isn't fair to compare the quality of an inexpensive portable tool like this with a sewing machine costing hundreds or thousands of dollars. It has already saved me half an hour of software hassles with my embroidery machine this weekend; if it does that a few more times, it will have paid for itself!

- The product documentation states that the winder won't work with Singer Futura bobbins. Please note that Singer Futura bobbins are NOT the same as the bobbins used for the Quantum Futura sewing/embroidery machines, which are a 15J. My 15J bobbins fit on the winder just fine.

Bottom line: I'd like to give this winder a four or five star rating, but it isn't quite there yet. That isn't intended to be a knock on the product: it's good and useful; it's just in its first generation of production. I won't be surprised if subsequent generations address many of the issues which I and others have observed.

Power button is broken right out of the box. Will be returning this for a refund, not a replacement.

I'm glad I got 40% off this little piece of junk! Even at $20, it's not worth it. Very junky, doesn't work as stated. You're better off not buying this!

I got this at my local quilt shop this weekend and I just love it.

Yes - it doesn't work for all bobbins, but it works just fine for my Pfaff - it's a 2040. There is a list on the box of those known to the company that it doesn't work for.

Yes - it can wind up uneven - but so does my sewing machine and ever sewing machine I've ever had. I always use my finger to control the winding on any machine to make sure it's getting on there eveningly.

I didn't have any problem setting it up and using it. The only problem I have with the machine is that little tail of thread that you put through the bobbin to start it can get caught up in the thread that is winding on. The machine is pretty quick and that happend only once of the 3 times I used it. It was no problem though, just tugged on the end after snipping it and it pulled free.

I would recommend it, provided it works for the bobbins you have to wind.

I own a Brother embroidery/sewing machine, and sometimes the bobbin thread runs out while I'm in the middle of embroidering a design. I wanted this bobbin winder so that I wouldn't have to completely stop the embroidery pattern to wind a new bobbin. I read all the reviews and took the bad ones into account - and I still wanted it. But I will say, that the only reason I bought it sooner rather than later is I had a 50% off coupon for the Jo Ann Fabrics price. I got it for a little over $18 (local Jo Ann, no shipping). Please read the product reviews at the Jo Ann website. I read some tips that helped me use it better.

It is very light weight. Even though I am using it with the included power cord, I put batteries in it, just to help make it stable. Pull the spindle up to its *full* height, then put the spool of thread on. Wind the bobbin thread in, following the included instructions. Then be sure to thread the bobbin up through the hole in the top of the bobbin and hang on to the end of the thread *firmly* when you begin. Keep your finger on top of the bobbin as it winds, so that it will not jump around. This unfortunate step is needed because the company did not include a lock of some sort to hold the bobbin down.

Pro:

It does exactly what I need it to do.

Con:

The company should have made a much sturdier product

Before you buy this, make sure you do your homework and MAKE SURE IT WILL WORK WITH YOUR BOBBINS!!! There's several lists online where they spell out what will and won't work. It's not fair to trash something just because you didn't do your research beforehand.

That said, let's get to the details:

PROS: lightweight, winds bobbins at lightning speed, saves your sewing machine mileage, automatic so you don't have to sit there while it winds. You can use batteries or the plug-in.

CONS: a little too lightweight, rather cheaply made, doesn't wind the bobbins as nicely as the sewing machine does. Sometimes the button kind of sticks or doesn't initiate winding without a little wiggling. Drains batteries pretty fast.

All in all, I love this little thing. Yeah, it's cheaply made, and doesn't do a perfect job like your sewing machine would, but it's a bobbin, and you're not going for a pretty bobbin award. I love that it saves my machine the running time. Around $20 is a fair price for this. I'd much rather buy a new winder than replace my sewing machine.