Sewing Machines
Don’t Pull You Head Off! Fix Your Tensions.
Sewing terrors can be very real. A sewist’s worst nightmare is to sit down at a sewing machine ready to create, only to face a broken machine that doesn’t work. Explosive frustrations often crush the most avid sewing machine user.
Distorted thread lay, excess threads, loops, bird’s nests, and improper threading together yield tension headaches. Aspirin may help the user, but not the sewing machine.
There is still hope. Learn how to prevent, cure, and resolve these catastrophes yourself. The Sewing Machine Institute teaches the secrets of carefree sewing and sewing machine repair.
Here is just one little secret: when threads mess up, something is wrong with the sewing machine tension.
The goal is called “balanced tensions”. When you look at your finished seam, you want to see the thread lying smoothly, and snugly along top and bottom with no excess thread above or below the fabric. Think of two teams playing tug of war. An upper team (thread source) and a lower team (bobbin thread source) each pulling on their side of the thread. Whichever team pulls the hardest, gets excess thread on their side of the fabric.
If the bobbin pulls harder than the upper thread, you see bird’s nets, and floppy excess threads under the fabric. If the upper team pulls harder, you see loops or knots of excess thread popping up on top of the fabric.
Easy fix: rethread the machine making sure the thread enters the tension discs and double check to thread the take up lever. Retest. If you still have imbalance, increase or decrease the upper tension dial until the two teams reach a stalemate.
Once you have the tensions balanced, they should work every time. However, if you change the size of the thread in the bobbin, you must reset the bobbin tension. A small set screw on the side of the bobbin case or carrier allows you to raise or lower the tension.
In our sewing machine repair classes, we teach much more about how fix tension problems. The more you know the happier your sewing experience.
You can learn from the comfort of your own home through the Online Correspondence Program or enjoy hands-on instruction with comprehensive support through Sewing Machines Institute Live Classes.
