Thread: Sewing Machine Help

Okay. I love sewing and sew often, but my skills are mainly hand sewing. Two years ago my sister got me a sewing machine for Christmas. I took it out once and studied it for about a week, put it in its box, and it has sat in my closet ever since.

Well, I decided to take it out and actually figure out how to sew with it. I finally got it to thread, but it appears I have the wrong sort of needle. My stitches don't come out very nice and troubleshooting all leads back to the needle type.

Anyways, I was wondering just what size do you seamstresses use on felt? I tacked on velvet to a new belt base last night and am ready to stitch it together, but I have the wrong needle it seems. Help?

Make sure that you are threading the machine correctly - both the spool and the bobbin. Make sure that the tension is correct. If the needle came with the machine, chances are it's the right type of needle for the machine but it may be the wrong type of needle for the fabric. (Personally, I don't notice this as much. Unless I am sewing very fine silk or chiffon, I tend to use what ever needle is on the machine.)

Start with those and see what happens.

{{{HUGS}}}

I hardly switch my needles either, unless I'm sewing something fine or very thick. For felt, I’ve just used the regular ol’ medium sized needle. If your stitches are funny, my guess is the tension is wrong or you missed threading it through the tension part. (Wrong needles snag the fabric or don’t puncture the fabric for me.) Sometimes the wrong bobbin or having the bobbin in backwards causes those problems too.

I know it's hard work to thread the machine, especially when you're staring out, but just take the treat out completely and try it again.

It may be useful to first sew simple cotton, to make sure the machine is properly threaded and tension settings are OK. I have sewn everything from silk to polar fleece with the same needle just fine, but have had tons of trouble with threading and tension - which can be quite frustrating. Good luck.

If there is a manual that comes with the machine look to see if it has a "problem" section. You may find the solution there. The machine may need tension adjustment. The place where your sister purchased the machine may also be able to help.

I also find my machine messes up a lot if I use cheap thread, it seems to affect the tension and skip stitches.
I normally use poly/cotton mix thread by gutermann and it works well.
I also use the blue tip needles if I'm sewing any fancy fabrics, eg. sequinned, lurex, glitterdot etc, otherwise just whatever's in the machine.

Originally Posted by bgordon2020

If there is a manual that comes with the machine look to see if it has a "problem" section. You may find the solution there. The machine may need tension adjustment. The place where your sister purchased the machine may also be able to help.

Alas, that is Wal-Mart. Singer no longer makes the model any more either. I have been wondering if my tension is too lose on the bobbin. It appears fine on the spool. Also, Singer says the common tension is "4" and thats pretty universal for straight sewing, but zig zag is about "3". I don't know, it's like reading Chinese to me...

Then I read some places that say don't ever change the tension on the bobbin. Gah. Frustration! When I do the tension test on my bobbin, it does feel pretty slack...so I did try to tighten it and I can't. The screw is just locked stiff. 15 bucks for a new bobbin case? ..cr.:

Originally Posted by steffib

It may be useful to first sew simple cotton, to make sure the machine is properly threaded and tension settings are OK. I have sewn everything from silk to polar fleece with the same needle just fine, but have had tons of trouble with threading and tension - which can be quite frustrating. Good luck.

I stitched away on an old pillow case before I set the machine on my 'spensive velvet. You should see the pillow case. It's like the Frankenstein of bed linens.

Check to make sure you are using the correct size bobbin too. That can really mess you up.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

Check to make sure you are using the correct size bobbin too. That can really mess you up.

Oh? I didn't know there were other sizes? It doesn't say anything in the manual about them..and my bobbin case does keep falling off when I tried a different bobbin. The machine came with two plastic bobbins and I bought metal ones. My bobbin case falls out with the metal one.

-Sigh-

Hand sewing is so much easier, but takes FOREVER. I have to learn to use this darn thing. Ever make a dress by hand? It sucks. ..c::

Flip the spool of thread around. That is going to sound completely stupid, but I know that when the thread is coming off the spool "wrong" on my machine, it can cause a lot of these issues.

{{{HUGS}}}

The best advice I can think of is to take yourself and the machine to someone who knows how to run one (ask me how I know this)...

Bad thread, bad tension, bad threading, wrong needle, bad needle, all can mess you up (ask me how I know this)...

Make sure the thread is actually in between the tension disks - most machines release the tension disks when the presser foot is in the raised position (allowing the thread to drop in between in the first place) - but NOT all (ask me how I know this)!!!

If it sounds like I blundered around with my machine - I did! And I still do to some extent!

Like most guys, I have a love for, and an affinity with, machinery. But I can tell you that there's been times I've literally SCREAMED at my machine, its frustrated me so! What helped in my case was to embrace the horror and start collecting them... ..l;,

Hold the threaded bobbin case with the open end facing you. Pull the thread, it should turn 'Clockwise' in the case.
The wrong direction will cause the bobbin to spin wildly inside the case.
(It will create 'loops', on the underside of the fabric layers).

The upper thread spool will also spin wildly if it's not coming off the spool correctly.
To tell if your tension is correct, hold the threaded bobbin case, by the thread, letting it dangle, give it a quick jerk, it should drop about 8-10 inches.

When you try sewing the velvet through, does the velvet feed through the pressure foot, and feed dogs easlily?

If not, try putting tissue paper between your fabric, and the sewing foot. You may also need to add tissue under the fabric.

Good luck with your project!
:-)

Originally Posted by gothique

Hold the threaded bobbin case with the open end facing you. Pull the thread, it should turn 'Clockwise' in the case.
The wrong direction will cause the bobbin to spin wildly inside the case.
(It will create 'loops', on the underside of the fabric layers).

The upper thread spool will also spin wildly if it's not coming off the spool correctly.
To tell if your tension is correct, hold the threaded bobbin case, by the thread, letting it dangle, give it a quick jerk, it should drop about 8-10 inches.

When you try sewing the velvet through, does the velvet feed through the pressure foot, and feed dogs easlily?

If not, try putting tissue paper between your fabric, and the sewing foot. You may also need to add tissue under the fabric.

Good luck with your project!
:-)

Well, here's what I have done. My thread does go clockwise in the bobbin, but the tension is very slack. I tried tightening the tension on the bobbin but that didn't help me at all.

I haven't actually sewed on my precious velvet yet, just on pillowcases.

I've decided to enlist the help of a fellow dancer here in the area who is a seamstress whiz and then hopefully enlist her to do a sewing workshop.

get yourself to a sewing shop or find someone who knows their way around a machine. There are too many variables and it can be super confusing when you just start out.

i use Microtex Sharps Needle, needles on pretty much everything. For thick or heavy fabric i might use a denim needle

Originally Posted by AllyisLuma

Well, here's what I have done. My thread does go clockwise in the bobbin, but the tension is very slack. I tried tightening the tension on the bobbin but that didn't help me at all.

I haven't actually sewed on my precious velvet yet, just on pillowcases.

I've decided to enlist the help of a fellow dancer here in the area who is a seamstress whiz and then hopefully enlist her to do a sewing workshop.

There must be something wrong with the bobbin/tension assembly.
It shouldn't be that loose, unless you threaded it incorrectly.

I hope your seamstress whiz can help you (I think she can).
Good luck with your sewing!
(((Hugs!)))

Originally Posted by lylagus

i use Microtex Sharps Needle, needles on pretty much everything. For thick or heavy fabric i might use a denim needle

I don't use them for everything but Microtex is the BEST for tissue Lame' !!!!

(Prevents those unsightly snag/pulled threads!)

Before anything else, get out your manual. Open up everything that can be opened, use the little brush tool to remove lint, thread, dust, etc. Oil the machine. Don't forget to remove the bobbin case and clean it out too and oil.

Put a new needle in the machine and rethread. Get some Sewers Aid or other thread lubricant and apply to the spool thread, bobbin, and needle shaft. Try sewing again. This usually fixes nasty stitches.

If the machine has been sitting for a while it needs this done. Technically you should clean, oil, and change needles at the completion of every project.