Friday, February 26, 2010

Project: Sewing machine mishap

Why does this happen? And it happens a lot. Right when I start to sew, the machine gobbles up the thread (it's the top thread pictured there on the bottom side). Sometimes it's so bad it gets all wound up in the bobbin case and I have to open that up and pull it out. It does not matter what thread I'm using, what type of needle I'm using, or the fabric. In this case I was sewing two pieces of knit cotton together with the appropriate needle. I also had my machine serviced recently. If I start with the needle up, needle down, new needle, old needle, in the fabric a bit, at the edge of the fabric, it's all the same and it's driving me nuts.

Is there a Car Talk for sewing machines?

12 comments:

hello,my name is jessica. said...

pesky things!

Mommy Relcuk said...

The handful of times in my life that I have used a sewing machine, this is what happens. Totally kills any interest that I have ever had in learning to sew. I assumed it was because I was a novice and was doing something wrong, not being careful. If it is happening to you, a professional needle wizard, this validates my thought that I have no interest in messing around with sewing machines.

Katielin317 said...

Oh yes. this happens to me all the time. I have an old Kenmore. She's pretty tough, but she gives me a whole lot of trouble too.

katie- www.hipposanddinosaurs.blogspot.com

K said...

Ugh! This totally happens to me, too! Not all the time, mind you, just when I'm in a hurry. Have you checked your tension? That's the only thing I can think of.

Anonymous said...

Have you oiled & cleaned your machine lately? Mine does this when I've been ignoring the maintenance on it.

Also, my Kenmore did this a lot more than my Bernina does. So there probably is something else "to it."

Unknown said...

Mine does this too and I've found it's usually a tension issue. Good luck!

Ashley said...

I have found that this only happens when a)top or bottom is threaded wrong or b)thread is getting stuck down by the bobbin. When I went into the sewing machine shop they told me to always start on the fabric so thread doesn't get all caught down by the bobbin. So far I haven't had that problem since! Good Luck! I know how frustrating that can be!

hairycarrot said...

Try cleaning and oiling the machine and verifying the threading and tension are are correct.
Dirty, dry machines won't run as smoothly.
If the upper tension is too loose it won't always pull up before the next stitch is made. The thread can sometimes jump off the takeup lever.
Sometimes this will also happen if the needle is too short.
Luckily they are all easy fixes.

bagfashionista said...

that's happen several times....but after cleaning it, and playing around with the thread tension, it miraculously starts to behave again (miraculously because i really have no idea what i was doing)

Ru said...

This generally happens when the tension of the thread in the needle doesn't match the tension of bobbin thread..if it is looping under the cloth then the top thread is too loose..your machine manual will tell you how to adjust that...
All the best and hope this works for you..

iSew said...

yep, I hate when that happens. It helps if you hold onto the threads before you start sewing. I think they just get pulled sometimes. Works for me anyway. grrrrr, good luck!

benbes said...

try to maintain your sewing machines more often, by cleaning and oiling it, I guess is just maintenance issue.
janome sewing machines