sewing machine

[MtnManZ]

The tension trial and error is a bugger. Thanks for the tips stid2677. Congrats on the new found skill adirondak5. Happy sewing.

 

[adirondak5]

Thanks for the tips stid2677, and thanks MtnManZ for the well wishes , yea , that thread tension had me scratching my head for a bit . I started reading up on it a bit more like I should have done to start with .

 

[husky390]

Um, wow. Sewing has to be one of the most aggravating things I've tried. Any idea's as to why I keep breaking the needle thread and the bottom thread is birdsnesting on my test fabric? The plus side, I've about memorized the pattern to thread the machine.

 

[Stid2677]

Um, wow. Sewing has to be one of the most aggravating things I've tried. Any idea's as to why I keep breaking the needle thread and the bottom thread is birdsnesting on my test fabric? The plus side, I've about memorized the pattern to thread the machine.

Could be many things, sounds like friction is off,, try you tube to see some videos on tension. If the upper is too loose it will pull the thread into the bobbin and break the thread.

If the thread or material is too think it will break thread.

Make double sure the needle and thread are correctly install and threaded.

Change one at a time, thread, needle, material and solve for the trouble.

 

[Forestryguy]

I came across a Dressmaker machine, that I was able to get for free. Does anyone know if it is a good machine or not and what it is worth? I have not taken the time to look through the rest of this post to see if it has come up or not. Thanks.

 

[adirondak5]

I got a lot of bottom bird nesting until I tightened up the upper thread tension , also had the bobbin feeding the wrong way out of the bobbin case , could be a lot of things , my fix was fairly simple once I figured what it was , stick with it , you'll get it figured .

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

As Stid said could be a lot of things but 90% of the time with me its been top tension.

 

[husky390]

Okay, I have the top tension set and so far I think it's stitching okay. I have to admit, sewing is a helluva lot harder than I thought. My hats off to the folks that do it. I wish this machine was slower but oh well. Tomorrow I get to tackle sewing on webbing. That should be fun.

 

[Stid2677]

Looking good, it will get easier and you will get better with each piece you make.

 

[adirondak5]

Okay, I have the top tension set and so far I think it's stitching okay. I have to admit, sewing is a helluva lot harder than I thought. My hats off to the folks that do it. I wish this machine was slower but oh well. Tomorrow I get to tackle sewing on webbing. That should be fun.

Looks good husky . Yea , the tension thing drove me nuts for a while , I learned how to quickly thread a bobbin (and take a bobbin case apart) , and clear jams though . I've watched a few vids on youtube on webbing , you can always turn the hand wheel by hand if you need to go slow when doing webbing , my biggest issue now is keeping the needle down when I pivot material under the foot.

 

[adirondak5]

I came across a Dressmaker machine, that I was able to get for free. Does anyone know if it is a good machine or not and what it is worth? I have not taken the time to look through the rest of this post to see if it has come up or not. Thanks.

Some of those old Dressmaker machines look like old Kenmores , if you got it for free and it works I would say its a good machine , its not costing you anything to find out .

 

[Forestryguy]

Some of those old Dressmaker machines look like old Kenmores , if you got it for free and it works I would say its a good machine , its not costing you anything to find out .

Thanks. It has an external belt, that looks fairly new so I might try to give it a try. I have a new Singer Heavy Duty that I have used a handfull of times. So I will see which one works better.

 

[Forestryguy]

So... I finally took the time and read through this whole thread. Great collection of information. I will try to do a lot more sewing once the long winter sets in here, IA & WI. My girlfriend was showing me how to sew, she was in 4h, and made clothes for projects. But gets frustrated when I don't get things in the first couple of tries and ends up taking over. Think I will have to kick her out of the room next time I try sewing. She also thinks it is kind of funny that a bunch of guys that are into hunting are sewing. I just tell her that the best way to get the gear you really want is to make it yourself.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great info.

 

[husky390]

She also thinks it is kind of funny that a bunch of guys that are into hunting are sewing. I just tell her that the best way to get the gear you really want is to make it yourself.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the great info.

My cousin was laughing when she asked me why I was sewing for when we were kids she would stay with Grandma and learn to sew while I went with Grandpa to go milk cows. I told her the same thing, to make hunting gear that I need but no one else makes. Good luck to you.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

My wife laughed at first till I showed her the costs of some things I was making when purchased new.

 

[adirondak5]

I wish I payed attention to Grandma when she was sewing , I'd be ahead of the game now , but I am getting better , here's another pullout I just got done with , I remembered the hold tabs on this one , made out of 500D urethane coated cordura , this one only took an hour , but no big mistakes , stitches are looking better too , boxed corners on this one . That old 301 goes through this stuff good , zipper foot I picked up worked good , made it a lot easier to start off and keep things lined up .

 

[husky390]

I've been at a standstill for the past couple of hours. I'm using a practice piece of the 1000d cordura and folded over nylon webbing and have been trying to stitch the two together. I have thread tension maxed out and so far have not been getting any birds nesting but when I go to make a turn the thread breaks. Plus the top stitch looks like a lazy bend rather than a sharp turn. Any ideas on what's causing this? I've checked all of my settings and they're set up for straight stitch, nothing fancy.

 

[Stid2677]

I've been at a standstill for the past couple of hours. I'm using a practice piece of the 1000d cordura and folded over nylon webbing and have been trying to stitch the two together. I have thread tension maxed out and so far have not been getting any birds nesting but when I go to make a turn the thread breaks. Plus the top stitch looks like a lazy bend rather than a sharp turn. Any ideas on what's causing this? I've checked all of my settings and they're set up for straight stitch, nothing fancy.

You have discovered your MAX, my machine would MAX out sewing webbing and cordura. Best way I found was to rotate the flywheel by hand and go slow. Raise the foot with needle down make turns by hand. Turning while sewing that thick stuff will often break thread.

Unless you are using UPHOLSTERY thread or bonded nylon, breaking will also be an issue.

 

[husky390]

You have discovered your MAX, my machine would MAX out sewing webbing and cordura. Best way I found was to rotate the flywheel by hand and go slow. Raise the foot with needle down make turns by hand. Turning while sewing that thick stuff will often break thread.

Unless you are using UPHOLSTERY thread or bonded nylon, breaking will also be an issue.

That's not good news. I've been doing it manually since the pieces are so small. I'm using Gutermann TERA 40 100% Poly thread with a 16 needle. Would going up to an 18 needle help at all?

 

[Stid2677]

That's not good news. I've been doing it manually since the pieces are so small. I'm using Gutermann TERA 40 100% Poly thread with a 16 needle. Would going up to an 18 needle help at all?

The guide for that size thread calls for a needle size of 18 to 20,, so yes use as large an needle as possible. I have noticed that the thread breaks more if it is hard to pull through the needle or the needle hole is too small for selected thread.