Tuesday 8 July 2014

Thread problems - any ideas?

After three weeks of almost no sewing (gasp), I have my sewing mojo back! I started on the weekend on the dress for the outfit-along hosted by Andy from Untangling Knots and Lauren from Lladybird. The dress is almost sewn up and the only thing missing is the lapped zipper and hem. You can see a sneak peak here:

Sorry for the crappy mobile photos, but I was not really
 in the mood to take nice pics - read on!

I am also making a shirt for Lescha and it is almost done! This morning I had an hour time before work and wanted to stitch the buttonholes. My Brother sewing machine has an automatic buttonhole foot, so usually buttonholes are soooo easy and believe me I have stitched countless buttonholes. I love them.

But not today.

When stitching my test buttonhole the thread went all crazy: my needle was not able to pick up the bobbin thread and when it did, there were loads of thread loops on the top of the fabric. I spent 1 hour this morning and another hour tonight to adjust the tension (something I never have to do when sewing buttonholes). You can see my test fabrics here:

The first half of a buttonhole (bottom) The red
thread is the bobbin thread and we look from the
top!
Can you see the loops? Again looking from the top
seeing the red bobbin thread.


Obviously there is a problem with the tension even when doing straight stitches (Now you wonder how I was able to sew the outfit-along dress on the weekend? Me as well. But the stitches look fine.). I changed the needle, rethreaded, changed the bobbin, the thread and removed any dust before even touching the tension dial. But no luck!

Here you can see the loops from the side.

I had my sewing machine serviced three weeks ago and because I have hardly sewn since then, didn't notice the problems. I will bring my sewing machine back to the shop tomorrow (it's only an hour from home) and they promised they will check her immediately so that I can take her home.

Stitching sample. The red bobbin thread is coming up.

Hopefully they will figure out the problem, because I really want to get the shirt and dress finished!
Wish me luck :) In the mean time, did this ever happen to you? Any advice?

5 comments:

  1. What a nightmare! That hasn't happened to me, and sadly I have no advice, but I am cross on your behalf if that helps! Hopefully the shop will be able to sort it out for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Lynne, I really hope so as well!

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  2. Oh no! Especially when you just got her back :( I hope they can fix her fast!

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  3. I was having similar problems with my Brother before I got it serviced recently. The guy that did my service also said that part of the problem might have been my thread - I was mainly using thread from a massive pack that was included with my sewing machine when I bought it but he recommended switching to Coats Moon thread instead. My problems seem to have (hopefully!) stopped now, but not sure whether it was the service or switching thread that helped! Hope your problems get sorted soon! Oh, and the dress looks really pretty from the sneak peek!

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    Replies
    1. Hm, I am also using thread that came with my sewing machine and I have loads left! I am only curious because I didn't have any problems using it before the service. I will see what they later and let you know! But thanks for your suggestion :)

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