- It's frustrating, right?
You've just figured out how to thread the machine,
filled your bobbin, got it all going,
you start to sew, and it just
turns into a big, ugly mess.
All the threads are jammed up.
They're all knotted, or they disappear,
or just, it's a disaster.
So, you re-thread it, put it all through,
think you fixed it, and it just keeps happening.
I know, it's so frustrating.
If we haven't met yet, my name is Evelyn Wood,
and I help new sewers just like you
learn the art of dress making.
Now, in this video, I'm going to show you
the top three things that all new sewers can do to help
stop thread jamming, so you can get on with your sewing.
(bright orchestral music)
My first tip for new sewers to avoid
cotton lock and thread jamming is to actually
leave a longer length on your threads.
Let me show you.
You need a decent amount of length from your threads here,
both your bobbin and your top thread.
I see a lot of students cut them
off down here, for example, and then they
start sewing, and these are too short.
As your machine starts turning around,
it actually draws those threads
back through, into itself, in which then,
if you find that your needle thread
falls out all the time, this is probably why.
So, you want to make sure that you pull these out,
and leave a good, at least 15
centimeters of length in those tails.
Even if your thread cutter cuts them off
at a certain length, just give yourself
a little bit longer, longer is better to start with.
My second tip to stop and avoid thread jamming,
is to actually hold onto these tails when you start sewing.
So, as I was mentioning, those threads
are drawn back into itself as you begin to sew,
if you put a little pressure on these
and hold them, it will stop them from
tangling up as you begin to sew.
As you start sewing, getting in the habit
of just putting your finger down here,
to put a little pressure on it,
as you begin to sew, is a good habit to get into.
My number three tip to avoid thread jamming
and cotton lock, is to actually not
start sewing right at the very edge of your fabric.
A lot of new sewers will actually put their fabric
right on the edge, and the needle will then
go down right onto the very, very tippy edge of the fabric,
and that will actually cause the needle
to pull down fabric with it.
And that can cause all sorts of
knotting, and all sorts of jamming.
So, what you want to do, start about
five mil, or even one or two centimeters
would be fine when you're just learning.
Start there, go forward your two or three stitches,
and then, reverse back past where you started from,
so it actually sews up those fabric edges,
and then continue to go forward.
Because the fabric would have already locked itself
into the fabric, and then you won't get
any knots as you get close to that edge.
So those are my top three pieces
of advice for all new sewers.
They're the things that I find most
commonly not done, and is the reason
why most people get that horrible,
dreaded cotton lock or thread jamming.
So, I hope this video has given you
a little advice in your sewing,
and you might be able to now
avoid those horrible cotton locks
and thread jamming that is just
so disruptive to your sewing.
It is my aim to help you create your own fabulous fashion,
and I hope that I've helped you a little bit today.
Now, if you liked this video,
do give me a thumbs up, and please
leave me a comment below, and tell me
which one of these tips you didn't know about,
or that has helped you the most.
And if you're new to sewing, grab my
free five day crash course to learn to sew.
It's full of tips and tricks on how to
use your machine, how to sew fabric,
what all the parts are, and you'll even
get to make your first project.
So, head onto my website at evelynwood.com.au,
and you can enroll in that free course there now.
So, thanks again for watching,
and I will see you in the next video.
Bye.
(engine roars)
We'll just wait for that plane.
Noisy planes.
The planes are frustrating.
That's what's frustrating.
All these noise.
Don't they know that I'm trying to film?