Help!! my thread is looping!

[PAflower]

Ok. I'm about to hammer my machine! I've been working on this for days now.
I borrowed this machine from a friend b/c mine isn't working. I saw her sew and it was fine. I brought it home and it's not working.
It's looping on the bottom. I adjusted the thread tension and it's still looping. The thing is: I didn't change anything except the fabric. I tried other fabric and its all looping!!!
HELP.
I sound like an idiot but this is the second machine that is doing this when it worked for someone else. So it has to be obvious!

[Kari_mom]

Is it looping just at the beginning or along the whole seam?

If it loops at the beginning, you need to hold your thread tails when you start. Bring the top thread under the presser foot to meet the bobbin thread. Pull both threads to the back and to the left as you begin stitching. This will keep the boobin thread from being caught up in the stitching on the bottom.

If it is the entire seam, try tightening the top thread tension and also check that the presser foot is down and holding the fabric down as it stitches.

Those are the two things I can think of right now. Let me know if they work or not.

[Fluffhead]

you probably know this, but just in case-you have to change the tensions on some machines when you use different fabrics depending on their weights. I HTH!

[PAflower]

Thanks for your help. It's not the tension. I haven't figured it out. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I think that the thread is unraveling too fast...
very frustrating. I am getting a commercial singer sewing/serger machine on the 16th. Until then...I don't know. I have a bunch of orders to fill and I'm getting so frustrated that it is taking me 1 hour to sew something instead of 1/2 hour.
Thanks again!

[rubelin]

It sounds like your thread is jumping out of the tension disks or just isn't seated in there properly. Rethread the whole thing, including the bobbin. Make sure you tug the thread through the tension disks (hold it tight at the spool and give a pull on the loose end) Then set the tension as tight as it will go and do some practice ona scrap, loosening until you get the tension perfect.

If you can get that to work but are finding it still happening from time to time, it could be the thread is jumping out of the tension disks. If you are doing anything where you raise and lower the pressure foot, that could be it, or it could be your thread. I've had this problem lots when using larger spools of poly thread, like Gutermann and found that it was twisting when it came off the spool and one of the twists would go through and make the thread pop out of the disks. I flipped the spools around and it's just about solved the problem. I do keep an eye on the tension disks more now, though, to make sure no loops of thread are getting close to them.

good luck!

[rubelin]

heather, did it work or did you heave the machine out the window?

hopefully you are happily sewing away!!

Robin~

[PAflower]

Hi ladies,
I did seriously feel like chucking it out the window! :LOL I haven't tried it today but the other day the thread was coming out of the top spool too fast. I'm just borrowing this machine so I don't want to use it too much but I would like to get ahead on some of my slings...Just 8 days until I get the commercial one. It's a Singer sewing/serger.
Thanks for all your help!

[JR'smama777]

Rubelin, what exactly is a tension disk? You sound like you know you're stuff.

I've had the exact same problem. My ex-husband fixed my machine years ago when it did this, but wouldn't tell me how he did it saying "Then you won't have a reason to keep me around! Ha Ha"....apparently that wasn't a good enough reason to keep him around :LOL

but he never did teach me how. :

[boingo82]

Maybe you're using the wrong needles for the fabric?

[kerc]

tension disk: (at least what I think it is) as you are threading the thread you wind around several different thingys between needle and thread spool. those things are the tension disks. Thread with the presser foot up, it should release the tension and allow the thread to properly seat in there.

I was going to suggest maybe the bobbin's in backward? and/or maybe you missed a spot when threading the machine?

Sometimes on my kenmore the machine starts behaving funny if the bobbin is low.