Thursday, March 22, 2012

Skiping Stitches

So what do you do when your wonderful sewing machine is skipping stitches? I cry a lot. Hey, it happens, grown men cry.

Skipped stitches occur when the hook does not grab the needle thread.  After the needle penetrates the material and reaches its lowest point it moves back up - approximately 2mm from bottom the thread makes a small loop in the scarf of the needle. This is where the hook snatches the needle thread and loops it around the bobbin thread.
This animated gif demonstrates this pretty well. So what are the possible causes of skipped stitches?

Bent needle.

Needle not inserted correctly.

Wrong adjustment: needle rise, hook clearance, height.

Needle loop not fully formed (thread too elastic or too taut, thread check spring stroke too long, needle plate bent, pressure on presser bar not high enough.

Needle is being deflected by presser foot.

Needle bar is bent.

If you can think of any other thing that can cause skipping stitches please let me know and I'll update this list.

Maybe I won't cry as much...

1 comment:

  1. What would cause a machine to bunch the thread on the bobbin side for the first 2 or 3 stitches unless you pulled out on the tag end as it started sewing? After that it sews well.

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