What to do when bobbin thread does not feed?

Pull out the lower and upper thread under the presser foot, and towards the back of the machine. Insert the fabric - make sure the first stitch goes into fabric - and start sewing.

This is assuming it's threaded correctly and the needle inserted the proper way, of course....

-Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

I know this seems strange, but usually jams below the fabric are a result of too little tension in the _top_ thread. So, lift the presser foot to take the tension off the tension disks and re-thread the machine, making sure that the thread goes between the disks.

The top thread should then pick up the bobbin thread. You can see an animated view of it here:

(second animation down the page) and there should be another better one here: for some reason all I'm seeing there is the HTML code. HTH

Sally Holmes Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England

I may well be misunderstanding you, but it appears to me that you are very new to machine sewing, so I am going to answer your question in that vein. If my reply is too basic, and does not address your issue, you may need to clarify the problem.

Thread your bobbin, insert it correctly into the case, and then insert the case into your machine, leaving about a 4 inch thread "tail".

Thread your upper thread in your machine, including the needle.. Holding the end of your needle thread in your left hand, turn the wheel of your machine towards you with your right hand one turn only (the needle should enter the bobbin once, and come back out of the machine) . Now with your left hand, gently pull the upper thread you have been holding, and your bobbin thread should appear thru the needle plate. Completely free the end of the boobin thread thru the needle plate and move BOTH threads to the back of the machine, under the presser foot.

When you begin to sew, hold both thread "tails" for the first few stitches, to prevent thread "nests" on the underside of your fabric.

hope this helps you.

JM

JM

Yes, I am new to maching sewing and your kind reply has enabled me to complete feeding the bobbin thread; now there's no stopping me. Oh the joys of learning new skills. Regards, Colin

Thanks Sally. Having learnt how to feed the bobbin thread from the previous correspondent I'm grateful for your suggestion re the tension. The 'howstuffworks' website is excellent and makes the bobbin action much easier to understand. Happy Easter. Colin

Then you hold the end of the needle thread and turn the handwheel, which should bring the bobbin thread up through the hole in the needle plate. If only a loop of the bobbin thread comes up -- as is likely with four whole inches dangling -- insert your seam ripper, awl, bodkin, or some other thin device in the loop and pull up the end. I pull it up by sweeping the awl toward the back of the machine, which leaves the thread ends in a good place to set the presser foot on them while taking the first stitch.

To be quite, quite sure the first stitch forms properly, hold the thread ends in your left hand instead of trusting the presser foot to hold them, and turn the hand wheel until the stitches secure the threads for you.

I often start stitching on a small scrap of fabric and stitch off it onto the seam, as one does when "chaining" seams.

(You chain seams by stitching off one onto the next without cutting the thread in between. This practice speeds up the work considerably, and prevents many problems. When the pieces are quite small, I may leave them in a chain -- particularly helpful when I want to keep them in the order in which they were stitched, as when making patchwork -- but a large piece is cut off the chain as soon as the next seam is well started.)

Joy Beeson

Glad to be of assistance... We were all new to sewing once you know, and we have all made our share of errors.. Just remember, the only stupid question is the one that you fail to ask. JM