Trouble Shooting a Sewing Machine

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  • ekpahe Flag

    How to use a sewing machine
    Thanks for your effective teaching. Instructions were simple and precise. I cannot believe I got it figure out in less than an hour. Thanks

  • ivona Flag

    Ivona
    Thank you very much! Absolutely brilliant! Massive help! THANK YOU :-)

Beth Bates
Creative Director of The Sew Teacher, The Sew Teacher
Sewteacher.com  
 

 

Sewteacher.com is a grassroots business created by and designed for working professionals, stay at home moms, amateur decorators, and anyone who is interested in creating original decorative and functional products for their home.  

 

The Sewteacher philosophy is based on the idea that quality home decorative goods and professional sewing products aren't only for those who can afford to hire high-priced decorators and seamstresses.  The DIY or do-it-yourself movement is growing as quality goods become more expensive to buy, and more consumers across the nation are seeking ways to make their own products in a more cost effective manner.  The added benefit of the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that comes from designing and making your own home goods only adds to this growing phenomena.  We here at Sewteacher firmly believe in the do-it-yourself attitude, and our goal is to help you design and produce your own home decorative products such as pillows, window treatments, bedding, using the same methods and tools the professionals use, at a fraction of the cost!       

 

Sewteacher instructional videos feature our Creative Director, Beth Bates, a professional seamstress with many years experience making window treatments, bedding and pillows.  Beth will walk you through the steps in a calm, relaxed manner, using easy to understand instructions and examples, all the while giving you special insider seamstress tips and suggestions.  Beth will show you how the professionals do it, so you don't have to hire them to do it for you! 

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Trouble Shooting a Sewing Machine

This video will show how to trouble shoot a sewing machine.

This expert: 261,254 views

This series: 183,754 views

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Transcripts

Beth Bates: Hi, I am Beth Bates with sewteacher.com. Today, we are learning about how to use your sewing machine. In this particular clip, we are going to talk about some troubleshooting or if your machine is having some problems maybe some things you can try before you take it in to a sewing machine repair shop.

Sometimes, if you are sewing and you hear your machine start to jam, maybe make a loud noise and gobs of thread are coming out, the first thing I recommend doing is to actually, pull your thread out and like the first clip, go ahead and just re-thread it. Sometimes it maybe might fall out of here or out of one of the many other loops. Alright, re-thread it. After you have done that, check your bobbin, that could be the issue too. Pull the thread, make sure it comes out smoothly, it's not getting caught up in something. Often times, you may just want to if your thread in the bobbin looks really messy and sloppy, you may want to actually rewind it, pull it, see if it comes out smooth.

Another common problem is sometimes when people are sewing, the thread gets jerked at the needle and that is most likely that the needle is on backwards. You can check that by turning this little handle here. Gently take your needle out. Usually, in a needle there will be a slight notch. The slight notch needs to be pointed in the back. Make sure you always use the correct size needle for your machine. If you have recently switched out your needles, you may have a wrong needle in there which again, can throw off your timing.

Also, if you have tried those three things and it is still not working properly, check and make sure that your needle, the tip isn't broken. If so, switch it out. Sometimes that will help. I recommend that you do not try to fix your sewing machine yourself even if you are really handy. This is a very delicate machine. The timing is very delicate. You may need to take it into a sewing machine repair man. Thanks so much. I hope you have learned a lot today about sewing machines and maybe I will see you again soon. Thanks so much.

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