As long as our mechanical or electronic gadgets work well, they tend to mesh beautifully with the fabric of our busy lives. The very moment they cease to perform the function for which they were intended, or perform that function poorly, look out! Sewing machines are at once supremely practical, a wonder of synchronous moving machine parts, and surprisingly easy to keep running well with just a few considerations for tension, bobbin, needle, and machine threading. Tension, bobbin, needle, and threading are designed to work in Zen-like harmony.
Tension
Always start your sewing project by testing out how the machine stitching will look and perform on a piece of scrap fabric of the same or nearly identical fabric content. Sewing on denims or heavy weight fabrics and then beginning a new sewing project by sewing on lighter weight or different woven fabrics e.g., silks or knits, will require tension adjustments. Tensioning discs control the needle thread tension. The stitch produced by the needle thread and the bobbin thread should lie neatly on both sides of the fabric, with not one tighter than the other. If one or the other looks too loose or too tight, try adjusting just the needle thread tension only slightly and testing the stitching on the scrap fabric after making any adjustment. Incorrect thread tension is usually, or most often found to be the needle thread tension.
Bobbin
An incorrectly wound bobbin, whether done by hand, or using the bobbin-winding mechanism of your machine can sometimes, although infrequently, be a possible cause for incorrect thread tension casing the thread stitches to break after just a few machine stitches. For most machine stitching, other than decorative embroidery, use the same kind and weight of thread in the bobbin as in the needle thread. Different thread weights in the needle and bobbin can cause uneven tension and thread breakage. Always wind thread evenly onto an empty bobbin. Try not to overfill the bobbin.
Needle
The sewing machine needle can make thousands of perforations into your fabric in a very short time. It is best to use a new machine needle appropriate for your woven or knit fabric and fabric weight for each new sewing project. Some needle manufactures recommend you replace the needle after every 10 to 12 hours of sewing or sooner, or when you begin to notice a skipped stitch or two. Be sure the needle is correctly placed in the needle bar.
Threading
Each sewing machine has a specific sequence and path to follow when threading down to the sewing machine’s needle. In general, the sewing thread runs from a spool of thread usually on the top of the machine, passes through several thread guides and on through a tension disc assembly that is used to tighten or loosen the thread as it is fed into the needle. Many machines have the thread-path to follow visible as a guide printed on the body of the machine; some machines have their threading best followed by using the owner’s or instruction manual for the specific sewing machine. Many contemporary sewing machines are similar in general construction; seeing how one machine is threaded can easily provide clues to another machine’s threading if a manual is missing or no longer available.
Each sewing machine manufacturer will have specific instructions for regular cleaning and care of your sewing machine. However your thread choice, needle choice, careful bobbin winding, and tensioning work together to produce the desired even machine stitches we most want to see.
Happy Sewing.
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