I have a sewing machine question?

Question

i went out and bought a sewing machine round december last year and i havent been able to use it because ive been having problems.

when i sew on a piece of fabric it looks fine on the top, but on the bottom its all messed up and horrid looking and if i keep going like that, it gets jammed like MAD and i have to cut it and start over, and it does the same thing.

everyone says its the tension and ive changed that and it still

does it, what should i do?!

i really REALLY want to use my sewing machine!

Answer 1

The underside stitching is done through the bobbin - check it isn't tangled

Answer 2

It does sound like a bobbin tension problem.  Without knowing your machine, I cannot tell you which adjustment to make.

Hopefully you have the book for your particular machine.  Your  book should have troubleshooting tips in it.  It will name the symptom & suggest how to fix it.  If not check the manufacturers web site.

Don't keep sewing when the thread jams up like that.  It won't fix itself & all it does is frustrate you.

Answer 3

It does have to do with the tension, it's probably from the bobbin.  Take the bobbin out and pull on the thread, if it pull really easy it needs to be tighted, turn the s***w to the right a little...if the thread is tight to pull, turn the s***w to the left....righty tighty, lefty loosey.  If all else fails, take it to a sewing machine shop to have it checked out.  Sometimes they will check it free....good luck!

Answer 4

If the bunching is on the bottom, it's the sewing thread from the needle that's causing it.  Adjust the top tension on a piece of scrap, or ask a friend who sews to help

Answer 5

Take it back to where you bought it and ask them to make sure all of the tensions are set properly.

My daughter-in-law has the same problem with her's but never does anything about it.  I've had a Singer, for over 35 years, and I've never had any problems with it.

Answer 6

Look, just pick it up, take it back to the shop and ask them to  set it up.  If they can't get your money back and go else where.  OR ask those who are telling you it is the tension to come round and set it.

Answer 7

Hi it sound like you are having trouble with the bobbin(spool under bed of sewing machine), have you pulled it out.  When you pull it out, then make sure it is threaded properly, this has a tension also which the cotton needs to go through before you wind the thread through to the top.  I don't know if I'm makeing sense to you if you don't know your way around a sewing machine.  Some sewing shops have classes and also machine repairs, go and talk to them they should be able to steer you in the right way.

Answer 8

When you have loops on the bottom, the top thread is lacking tension (prove it to yourself -- put a different color thread top and bottom!)

Let's start from the beginning (and I hope you haven't played with the bobbin tension!).  Set the upper tension dial to 4.  Put in a new size 80/12 sharp or universal needle, making sure it's turned the correct direction.  Take all the thread off the machine.

With your manual in hand, thread the machine carefully, following each step in the manual.  BE SURE THE PRESSER FOOT IS RAISED WHILE YOU ARE THREADING (you can lower it to thread the needle).  If the presser foot isn't up when you thread, the upper thread never enters the tension disks, and there is no upper tension to speak of.   (Some machines seem to need to have you floss the thread between the disks, fwiw.)  Leave about a 4" tail of thread.

Again, with manual in hand, insert the bobbin into the bobbin case, making sure it's going in the correct direction and the thread is feeding properly through the bobbin case.  Leave about a 3" tail of thread hanging out.

Now you're going to fetch up the bobbin thread by using the handwheel (check your manual, turn it in the correct direction for regular sewing) to lower the needle into the bobbin case area.  When you do this, *hang onto the end of the needle thread*.  Continue to turn the handwheel in the correct direction to raise the needle to its highest position.  A loop of bobbin thread should come up with the top thread.  Pull on the loop and let it turn into a single thread.  

Place both thread ends behind the presser foot and get a piece of woven cotton fabric, about the weight of a shirt, and fold it in half.  Raise the presser foot and put the fabric under the presser foot (the needle is still at the farthest "up" portion of its cycle.  Again, using the handwheel, turn it in the correct direction to lower the needle into the starting point on the fabric.  Drop the presser foot.

Now you're going to start to sew, *while holding both threads behind the presser foot* for the first few stitches.  After that you can let go and sew.  

There are two common kinds of snarls on the bottom of fabric.  One is a caterpillar that forms at the beginning of a seam if you don't hang on to the thread ends when you start to stitch.  The other is a series of loops all the way along the seam, caused by too little tension in the upper tension -- either the machine was misthreaded by not having the presser foot up, or there's something caught in between the disks, like a bit of lint or thread, or the tension setting got moved to a lower number.

If you're getting the second kind of looping (all along the seam) and you're sure you raised the presser foot during threading, you may have to clean the tension disks.  To do that, get a fold of much-washed cotton fabric (a fold of bandanna or the edge of a pillocase work fine) moistened with rubbing alcohol or unflavored vodka.  Open the tension disk by raising the foot, slide the fold into the tension disk,

drop the foot, and "floss" between the disks.  This should get out any guck that's built up from poor quality thread or using the wrong thread (hand quilting thread does NOT belong on a sewing machine).   Rethread and things should be fine.

When you get a new machine, or when it comes back from a cleaning, you'll find that your tension dial will be set to 4, and there's a size 80 needle in the machine -- that's the standard "normal" sewing setup for most home sewing machines.  When you move from sewing on shirtweight cotton to, say, heavy denim, you'll need a bigger needle, and you may need to play with the upper tension a bit.  When you sew on something light, like chiffon or georgette, you'll move to a smaller needle (typically a 70/10) and probably have to play with the upper tension a bit.

Typically, users don't adjust the bobbin tensions on their machines unless they're doing "fancy stuff" like bobbin work or certain types of free motion embroidery.  If you have messed with the bobbin tension, you may be able to get things back to normal yourself, or you may need a trip to  the shop to get the bobbin tension back in balance.

(And if you're going to be needing to do a lot of fancy stuff with bobbin tensions, most folks buy a second bobbin case for that purpose -- they're not that expensive.)