DIY Thread Rack Tutorial
A busy sewing room needs a dedicated space for thread storage. This easy to make DIY thread rack will have all your spools organized and easy to find.
The cost to make this thread storage rack is significantly less than those you can buy. In addition, you can make it as big or little as you need to suit your sewing needs.
DIY Thread Rack
Watch this video to learn how to make an easy thread storage solution
Supplies Needed for your DIY Thread Rack
- 1 length of cove moulding (shaped like a ‘V’)
- 3/16″ dowel
- Pencil
- Measuring tape
- Drill + 3/16″ bit
- Utility Knife
- Sandpaper
- Wood glue
By using cove moulding you already have the proper angle to achieve a slanted thread rack which is ideal for a beginner wood project.
How to Make a DIY Thread Rack
- Use a utility knife to cut a dowel in 3″ pieces (if you want to have space for a bobbin on top), or 2.5″ long for a single spool.
- Cut cove molding to desired length.
- Sand the ends of each piece of cut dowel.
- Mark off spacing for the dowels on the cove moulding every 1.5 to 2″ (depending on the size spools you sew with).
- Place a scrap of wood behind the cove moulding and drill holes where you marked in the previous step. Tip: to find the right drill bit, stick the dowel in the hole of the drill bit holder, if it just fits in, it is the right one.
- Put a small dab of wood glue in each drilled hole.
- Twist the dowel pieces in each hole. If they resist, use a hammer to gently tap them in place.
- Allow the glue to dry for several hours.
- Paint if desired.
- Attach the thread rack directly to the wall. Alternatively, attach each piece of moulding to a 1×1 board with the flat side of the moulding to position the thread spools at the proper angle.
Just drop your spools onto the dowels and you’ve created the perfect DIY thread rack.
DIY Thread Rack Tutorial
Organize your sewing room with a handmade thread rack.
Materials
- -1 length of cove moulding (shaped like a 'V')
- -3/16" dowel
- -2 strips of wood will depend on how many rows you'd like to add. Alternatively the project can be attached directly to a wall.
Tools
- -Pencil
- -Measuring tape
- -Drill + 3/16" bit
- -Utility Knife
- -Sandpaper
- -Wood glue
Instructions
- Use a utility knife to cut a dowel in 3" pieces (if you want to have space for a bobbin on top), or 2.5" long for a single spool.
- Cut cove molding to desired length.
- Sand the ends of each piece of cut dowel.
- Mark off spacing for the dowels on the cove moulding every 1.5 to 2" (depending on the size spools you sew with).
- Place a scrap of wood behind the cove moulding and drill holes where you marked in the previous step. Tip: to find the right drill bit, stick the dowel in the hole of the drill bit holder, if it just fits in, it is the right one.
- Put a small dab of wood glue in each drilled hole.
- Twist the dowel pieces in each hole. If they resist, use a hammer to gently tap them in place.
- Allow the glue to dry for several hours.
- Paint if desired.
- Attach the thread rack directly to the wall. Alternatively, attach each piece of moulding to a 1x1 board with the flat side of the moulding to position the thread spools at the proper angle.
Notes
Make your handmade thread rack as big or little as you desire.
Looking for more creative thread organizing ideas? Check out this post from A Girl and a Glue Gun where she rounds up lots of thread storage solutions.
Have you made a DIY thread rack before? Let me know in a comment below!
Another great project! Can you take a wider view photo with the whole thing in it and post it?
Thanks!
Thanks Claudine. I’m getting geared up to reveal my whole craft room where there will be a larger photo. It was hard to get a decent shot without showing off the entire sewing wall. Keep posted, only a week away!
oooh i think i have some quarter round left over from our home reno,i will make the dowels a bit longer to hold a matching bobbin too i think.Thanks for posting!
That is a genius idea! I should have thought of that, my bobbins are floating around a drawer!
don’t glue in the dowel rods then you can adjust for any size spools. Great idea.
I love this idea but is it good to store all your thread out in the open like this? Right now I store my thread lined up in 3″ deep boxes. The boxes are sorted by reg. thread, serger thread, embroidery thread. Sometimes it is a long time before I get to use certain threads and that is why I question leaving them exposed.
In my situation I other than dust there isn’t much that could harm them. I have no windows in my sewing space so no sunlight can get to them. Of course I’m not an expert but I can’t see much harm being done. Thanks for visiting
Hi, Love your idea and plan to use it. Just to clarify for those who might go looking for the molding. The molding pictured is cove molding or it might also be called inside corner molding and is usually a bit flat on the back — like the V had its bottom cut off. Quarter round looks like a quarter of a circle from the end view so it has a corner on the back so it would not lay flush against a surface like the peg board. This comes from a 40+ year sewer/crafter that became her own trim carpenter out of necessity with the purchase of our first home in 1972! Again love your idea – all I have found to buy won’t fit the long skinny area I want to use it in. Just love it!
Thanks for the tips Kathy!
love your idea .I,m doing this for my new sewing room.
THanks, it is so easy! One reader suggested making the posts a bit longer to accommodate a bobbin, I thought that would be a great idea
wow! I need this i my life. my craft supplies and thread are taking over my house at the moment! lol.
Great idea!
Actually no need to use longer pegs for the bobbins. Just put the bobbin first, and the sewing thread after.
Oh my goodness, your a genius!! Why didn’t I think of that!
How did you attach your concave round to the pegboard ?
I just glued then nailed it
I think that by making the dowels long enough, you would be able to store the bobbin above the cone of thread, so that you would always know where the correct bobbin was, and also if you needed to rewind it. By making the dowels even longer, you could easily store two bobbins above each cone. This is what I do…just sayin’