Sewing Nightmares & the problems that cause them...
Sewing can be a soothing, fulfilling activity, but if you use the wrong equipment, poor quality, or damaged equipment, or broken equipment, whether it is bad needles, bad bobbin cases, poor quality thread, bent or dull, or damaged needles, thread the needle the wrong way, insert the needle improperly, use the wrong thread size & type, for your fabric, or needle, or similar issues, your dream of blissful sewing, can turn into a horrific, frustrating nightmare!
This next link is not to my blog, but to someone else's who took the time to make a tutorial on Kenmore tension assembly
This next link is not to my blog, but to someone else's who took the time to make a tutorial on Kenmore tension assembly
Kenmore Sewing Machine Tension Repair Assembly
Some of the most common issues, which causes skipped stitches, tension issues, & frustration, is due to a needle that is inserted wrong, whether it is backwards, sideways, too far up, too far down, bent, dull, or has a burr (metal snag), each of those cause your machine to skip stitches, sew poor quality stitches, & sometimes, will even damage your fabric. Inserting the needle the correct direction, pushing it firmly against the top of the needle slot, before tightening the screw to hold it, is one of the simplest things you can do, to ensure your sewing goes well!
Not all sewing machines insert the needle the same direction, not all machines thread the needle the same direction, so it is important to read the instructions specific to your sewing machine, and follow them. I don't know of any sewing machines that thread the needle from the back to the front, the majority of sewing machines require the needle to be threaded towards the front of the bobbin, whether that be for a machine with a horizontal, drop in bobbin, a vertical front to back facing bobbin, or a sideways vertical bobbin.
If you, or the person who used your machine before you, broke a needle, or even just had the needle hit the needle plate, the bobbin case, the bobbin hook, or even had the needle hit too thick of a seam, and bent a little, they may have damaged the needle, or left a metal burr, like a thorn, on the needle, the bobbin case, the bobbin hook, or the needle throat plate. Any of these issues, can cause skipped stitches, or thread nests, because the metal burr, can grab the thread, preventing it from quickly forming the loop necessary, to forming perfect stitches. This will cause stitching problems, even skipped stitches, because the metal snag, will hold the thread just long enough, to interfere in perfect stitch formation.
Some of the most common issues, which causes skipped stitches, tension issues, & frustration, is due to a needle that is inserted wrong, whether it is backwards, sideways, too far up, too far down, bent, dull, or has a burr (metal snag), each of those cause your machine to skip stitches, sew poor quality stitches, & sometimes, will even damage your fabric. Inserting the needle the correct direction, pushing it firmly against the top of the needle slot, before tightening the screw to hold it, is one of the simplest things you can do, to ensure your sewing goes well!
Not all sewing machines insert the needle the same direction, not all machines thread the needle the same direction, so it is important to read the instructions specific to your sewing machine, and follow them. I don't know of any sewing machines that thread the needle from the back to the front, the majority of sewing machines require the needle to be threaded towards the front of the bobbin, whether that be for a machine with a horizontal, drop in bobbin, a vertical front to back facing bobbin, or a sideways vertical bobbin.
If you, or the person who used your machine before you, broke a needle, or even just had the needle hit the needle plate, the bobbin case, the bobbin hook, or even had the needle hit too thick of a seam, and bent a little, they may have damaged the needle, or left a metal burr, like a thorn, on the needle, the bobbin case, the bobbin hook, or the needle throat plate. Any of these issues, can cause skipped stitches, or thread nests, because the metal burr, can grab the thread, preventing it from quickly forming the loop necessary, to forming perfect stitches. This will cause stitching problems, even skipped stitches, because the metal snag, will hold the thread just long enough, to interfere in perfect stitch formation.
- Check bobbin for bent, rusted, or rough parts, if anything prevents the bobbin spinning smoothly, or snags the thread, it causes what appear to be tension issues, but are not, they are sometimes mechanical issues which just need a little help.
- Check bobbin case for lint, rust inside, thread
trapped under bobbin case tension spring. Use a wooden toothpick, or a Qtip
dipped in alcohol to clean the lint in the inside corner out.
- Check
needle plate for needle strike metal burrs.
Notice the damage on the bottom of this needleplate, I had to use the fine dremel head to smooth the roughest burrs, then jeweler's rouge to smooth them.
Needle strikes leave little pits. The jeweler's rouge, diamond dust impregnated denim fabric, for smoothing the pits, work beautifully.
- Check bobbin case for needle strike metal burrs.
- Check bobbin hook for needle strike metal burrs.
Notice the point of the bobbin hook, has a tiny, sharp burr at the point, where it grabs the thread.
- If you have spare bobbins, or bobbin case, try them in the machine with problems- if it doesn’t fix the problem, then you know those are not the problem, & to check elsewhere.
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