Thursday Tip // Troubleshooting!

What do you do when your machine acts up? Answer: “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

Unfortunately, turning it off and on again won’t do much except give the lightbulb a break (unless you have a computerized machine; then…maybe, it depends).

When machines start acting up we have our go-to chain of solutions and we teach these troubleshooting steps in our Hello, Machine class and Kids Sewing Series. We believe in teaching our students to solve their own machine problems by helping them identify what’s going wrong and giving them strategies to fix it. When you come to a class our goal is to always set you up for success so you can feel confident sitting in front of your machine at home.

Most machine problems can be boiled down to user error. If your machine jams, makes that “ka-chunk, ka-chunk” sound or has wonky stitches there are a few steps you can take before throwing in the towel and paying for a repair person to look at it.

Troubleshooting sewing machine problems:

Check the thread spool. Is it caught on something? Depending on the style of spool pin (where your thread sits) sometimes sewing at higher speeds can cause your spool to jump and maybe get a twist in the thread. Or the thread could be caught in the teeth that hold the thread end when the spool isn’t in use. 

Check the thread path. Did you hit all the guides, is the thread actually in the take-up lever? I would make bets that 90% of the time rethreading will solve most machine troubles. Sometimes the thread just doesn’t get to the right spots so starting from scratch helps rule out any thread path issues.

Check the needle. Is the needle bent, broken, or loose? Is the thread twisted around the tip? Are you actually using the right needle for your project? (Read our post about matching your needle to your project here).

Check the bobbin. Is the bobbin placed in the case properly? Is the thread wound too tight, too loose? Sometimes when you get close to the end of a bobbin the thread tail will start to unravel a bit and can cause the needle to grab the wrong thread end when making a stitch. If the bobbin unravels too much just set it aside and use that thread for hand sewing and fill a new bobbin. (Video Tutorial: Winding a bobbin)

Finally, make sure the needle thread is down through the gap in the presser foot and the bobbin thread is coming up through the hole in the needle plate and you should be ready to keep sewing!

These are our tried and true first steps but if after you have gone through the steps and your machine STILL won’t work, we know who you can call. Send us an email if you’d like a referral to some great machine repair options in Winnipeg.

Happy Sewing!