Very Beginning Sewing Lesson #3 (Upper Tension)

So how did your first line of stitching turn out?  I hope it looked great ... but if it didn't, never fear!  We can figure this out!  A good stitch is balanced.  The top thread is supposed to pull the bobbin thread up to the middle of the two layers a fabric.

This is determined by the tension on your thread. There are tension discs that your top thread goes between when you thread your machine.  These discs are open when your presser foot is up, and closed when the presser foot is down.  Always have your presser foot lifted when you thread your machine, so the thread can seat properly between the tension discs.  If your thread doesn't get between the discs, your top thread won't have tension on it, and you will get  loops of loose thread on the bottom of

your fabric.  The stitches may look perfect from the top, but the bobbin is pulling too much of the top thread down under the fabric.  If this happens you should re-thread your machine (making sure your presser foot is lifted).

You can adjust your top tension, usually with a dial.  The tension dial will be set to somewhere near the middle. A higher number means more tension, lower number is less tension.  If you are moving it all the way to one end or the other there must be another problem.  We will talk about other problems and solutions in another post.

If your tension is too tight it may pucker the stitches a little or make your thread fray or snap or pull bobbin thread to the top. If that happens you should loosen your tension a little.

Here is the most important thing to remember - 9 times out of 10 when your machine is doing something odd one of these three things will fix it:

*Re-thread the top thread
*Take out the bobbin and make sure you are putting it in correctly
*Put in a new needle

It is a magical solution to most sewing machine problems, write that down and put it next to your machine!

HERE is a blog with some beginner sewing projects - choose one and let's start sewing!


Happy Sewing!!