Hey Everyone!
This is Sarah with SewingPartsOnline.com and today we are going to go over some bobbin
trouble shooting.
But, the first thing you need to know is that bobbins come in different sizes, or also known
as different classes.
And what you want to do is go to our website, go to the left hand side, and you'll see a
list of sewing machine makers.
So, for me it'd be like a Brother.
Then you want to go to the quick find jump search bar.
Type in just the first few numbers or letters of your machine model and your machine should
pop up.
Now when you click on that page, you want to look for the bobbins and it will tell you
what class it is and that's how you'll know the size for your machine and that's really,
really important because if you're putting the wrong size in your machine, none of what
we are doing is going to help.
You have to make sure you have the right size.
And if you have different sizes, use like a permanent marker or something like that
to distinguish between the two.
Now, I have found with bobbins that 90 percent of the time, the problem is my tension.
So usually it's too low.
Especially when I'm changing the stitch lengths.
So, if you have a longer stitch length, you need to lower the tension.
But, if your stitch length is regular 2.5, you want to have it at about a 3.
But if you have it down at a 1, you're going to get that bobbin nest nastiness that will
all hate.
Or you're going to get those weird loops on the bottom, so to troubleshoot that, what
you're going to do is go to your machine and take off the needle plate.
Sometimes you'll have to take it off with a little screwdriver.
But take off those screws.
Remove the whole bobbin plate.
And while you re in there, so a couple quick checks.
Make sure your bobbin is wound properly.
You don't want any of those weird loops or unevenness on your bobbin because that affects
how it is fed with your machine.
So, make sure there are none of those snags in there.
It needs to be nice and neat.
Also, take a look at the lint situation.
Is it really dusty in there?
Is it nice and clean?
If it is dusty, go ahead with a paint brush or a lint brush and dust it out a fair bit.
It really is better in the long run.
And once that is squared away, you can really tackle the problem, which for the most part,
is that the bobbin case is off track.
So, if you can wiggle it around, or it looks like it's not on track, it needs to be reset.
Take the bobbin case out.
Bring your needle to its highest position.
The little cut out should be on the right hand side.
And you want to look for the little finger on the bobbin case.
And you want to line it up to this front section right here.
Now, when you have the bobbin case in, you'll hear a
definite "click".
Once it's in correctly, it'll click.
And then you can test this by moving your needle wheel up and down and see that thread
go all the way around the bobbin case.
Nothing gets stuck.
Everything moves really smoothly.
Now all you have to do is adjust your tension setting a tad bit higher or a lot higher depending
on what your project is and start sewing again.
You should be in the clear.
Now this is all assuming you've threaded your machine properly and/or are using the right
materials for your project.
For instance, say you are sewing with a Velboa or some kind of plush material or super, super
light material.
In those cases the thread, or the fabric can get stuck in the feed dogs.
And that's not a bobbin problem.
That's because you either want to switch out your needle plate or use some stabilizer.
Same thing with threading your machine.
Make sure your presser foot is up while you're threading it through the tension disks and
make sure that needle is in the highest position.
Now, a little less common problem, is the tension on the actual bobbin case.
Now, there is a little screw there, (and mine is actually covered in a little green paint),
that you can tighten to the right or loosen to the left.
And I tighten it when I'm using elastic thread, but it's really simple.
Just tighten or loosen and see what happens.
See if that fixes the problem.
Although, that is not very common.
Now these demonstrations were based on a top loading machine, but if you have a bottom
loading machine, that's okay I'm going to leave a link in the comment section that will
tell you were you can go to adjust the tension of a bottom loading bobbin.
It's really simple.
But all the other principles are pretty much exactly the same.
Now, if you need bobbins, we do sell them in bulk where you can get a discount on them.
If you need anything else, just visit us on SewingPartsOnline.com, on Google Plus, or
on Facebook at facebook.com/sewingpartsonline