Help with sewing/bobbin

Hi folks, I need help please. Even though Ive been sewing for 30 years I cannot work out whats going on with the bottom bobbin thread, its loopy. Ive tried a different bobbin, cleaning the inside of machine but its still happening. ANy ideas please.

Might you have accidentally adjusted the tension? Or maybe your upper thread is not going through every bit of the thread path…

Jane x

Have you made sure you have a new sharp needle that is the right kind for the fabric you’re sewing? Have you oiled the machine?

Are you stitching on paper? I’ve not sewn much on paper but I do remember it meant I blunted needles very quickly and the tension went kaput. I had to fiddle with the top tension to get it to cooperate.

If the printed text is either fabric or just a background for the photo, then I’d suggest a new needle (I’m pretty sure I can see holes at each stitch) in a smaller size, and adjusting the top tension if that doesn’t fix it (loosen it a wee bit).

Redo everything, including the top thread. Sometimes the issues seem to be with the bobbin when somehow the top thread has gone wrong!
I see Jane @beadedgarden has already mentioned this!

Is the machine due for a service? My stitching tends to play up when it is due one.

I’d echo everything: change needle, adjust top tension, try a different cotton. Hope it sorts itself! :slight_smile:

Thanks one and all, I tried adjusting a number of things suggested and its working a lot better this time. Il give the machine a good clean at the top today. Il swot up on oiling. As far as I know Its a pretty new machine so don’t think its due for a service.

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I feel your pain!
Mine has been playing up all week - skipped stitches, dodgy tension, unthreading halfway through…
I’ve tried all sorts, but to no avail!
Good luck!

Sarah x

Defiantly look like a tension issue to me. I have a singer that has to be slightly adjust if I use it a lot.

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I have always found that if the problem is underneath its the top thread at fault and if the problem is top thread its the bobbin thread at fault - check your top thread. Worth a try.

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It depends if the top stitch is loose so the bottom stitch is tight or if the top stitch is loose with the bottom stitch being too tight.

My machine is still skipping stitches. Its usually the bobbin/under side that is playing up, either in a tangle of everything is loose.

I’m absolutely sure you are not doing anything as obvious as this … but my machine skipped stiches for ages till I actually re-read the manual and discovered I’d been putting the bobbin in with the thread leading off anticlockwise instead of clockwise. My only excuse is I don’t use it very often, just for the odd bit of mending, and I was putting it down to just being an old machine …

Do tell me someone else has done this !

Yes I have and on more than one occasion.

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It looks like the tension is too loose to me. When I sew cotton and then swap to oilcloth I get a problem similar to this a lot and have to alter the tension. If I tighten the tension it pulls the stitch tighter to the fabric. Hope this helps xx

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, it seems ot be running ok at the mo, I just finished these, the 2nd one had no unpicking!!