If you embroider a lot of freestanding lace or freestanding applique projects, you end up with lots of bobbins wound with colored thread. What do you do with them?

At the price of thread, you don’t want to just pitch it but unused bobbins take up a lot of space. Fortunately, there are several uses for leftover machine embroidery colored bobbin thread.

They start by using the bobbin just like a spool. Thread your machine like normal and stitch away. Color won’t matter because these stitches won’t show.

Basting Stitches

A basting stitch helps to hold the fabric or item you are embroidering to the stabilizer. It is especially useful when floating in the hoop. Since you clip it and remove it after embroidery, color doesn’t matter.

Basting stitches can be used to show the position of a design. It is a good check to be sure your design is centered properly on the item you are embroidering.

Basting stitches are also useful when multi-hooping to be sure your designs are lining up straight. If the basting boxes don’t line up evenly, clip them, rehoop, and try again. See how it’s done here.If you need to add a topper to keep stitches from sinking into fabrics like toweling or fleece, basting stitches hold the topper in the hoop so that it doesn’t slide out of place.

Applique Stitches

Applique uses special stitches built into the design to show size and placement of the applique fabric as well as tack-down stitches to secure the fabric to the item you are embroidering.

Placement stitches are hidden underneath the applique fabric, so the color of thread used makes no difference. Tack-down stitches are typically covered up by satin stitching or other decorative edge stitching. See how these stitches are used in applique here.

Debbie SewBlest