How to wind a shirring bobbin
By hand, without stretching.
Step by step
- Thread the elastic through the hole in an empty bobbin.
- Wind by hand with enough tension that it doesn't fall off.
- Don't stretch the elastic or overfill the bobbin.
- Trim the tail at the top so the needle can't catch it.
- Load it as normal and turn the handwheel towards you to bring it up.
Watch
My Top 5 Tips for Shirring - Basics of How to Shirr - Loading Shirring Elastic in Different Machines (7:09)
By Lost My Thread · Open on YouTube
Chosen from its title and channel: a 7-minute video from Lost My Thread on the same topic as this guide. Embedded from YouTube with credit; we don't host it. It only loads when you press play.
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Sources
All checked November 1, 2026. We read these; we did not test the products ourselves.