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To be honest it's probably the machine being somewhat basic and not very powerful. It is possible that the feed dogs and lack of power have something to do with the problem, could be fluff stuck in the mechanism or you might actually have a broken tension dial right out of the box. Only thing you can really do is unthread everything, switch to a premium thread, clean every part of the machine, and then re-thread. Sewing machine sellers are very good at lying to you about what your machine will be able to do, yours will struggle with jeans for example and quilting will be incredibly difficult. If you have the option of returning and swapping for the much much better Singer 4432 then I would as it's currently very heavily discounted on Amazon. 
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Sep 27, 2015 13:26
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Nice! It's all metal under the covers and built like a tank so should easily last you 20 years. Really not fun fact: owing to the UK's overpricing on all machines that same one costs £279/$423 over here.
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Sep 27, 2015 17:21
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U.K. Goons. Pfaff hobbylock overlocker is on sale at £529 (US goons take your prices and double them for our prices) on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009A6C576?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_5&smid=A2H2YTM5CIILIH it has auto tension and is the daddy.
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Sep 28, 2015 08:40
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So, anyone want to spend £25 on a mini quilt kit that inadvertently looks like a swastika? Rachel's got you covered. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachels-Gre...lting+templates
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Oct 7, 2015 20:17
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What you want is a new rear end singer. The singer 9960 quantum stylist is literally exactly everything you listed.
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Oct 16, 2015 19:20
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Bugger, this isn't the bird thread, sorry.
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Oct 31, 2015 22:51
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If you don't like zig zags then the third stretch stitch here is an option:
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Nov 8, 2015 12:16
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It's a great machine, their industrial stuff is made in Japan not China so the quality is higher than Chinese made stuff. I'm not sure what else to add to that, if you use straight stitch now and want to upgrade then you are on the right path My new sewing room, which has my bed in it but beggars can't be choosers. The tables and wardrobe all have my sewing stuff in them. It's currently in Quilting configuration, I have a huge fold out table to go at right angles for marking out patterns. Don't be tempted to get those for your sewing machine to go on btw, they start to bounce when the machine is on. I learned this the hard way. 
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Aug 24, 2017 08:43
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I add to my friend goon's suggestion with the advice that you secure your wadding/battling in place with some sort of adhesive before sewing, I favour craft spray glue. It is the good kind of cheating.
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Aug 26, 2017 08:49
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What does massively help if you can't get a proper sewing desk is a some form of armless chair that goes up and down. I have a desk chair on rollers for scooting up and down on and now a leather barstool with a high back for the machines. I hate my overlocker. One of the more basic yet metal bodied singer ones. Used it for about a year and the chuffing thing's tensions were always off and it kept snapping the lower threads. I kind of got it working in one three thread mode but the snapping remained. Lost the manual in the house move and googled it. Imagine the string of expletives not heard outside of a dockyard that came pouring out of my mouth when I discovered that Singer had updated the manual, to include a tiny little box at the end of the threading instructions because they had missed a step. Turns out you have to ignore what the paper manual says when it tells you to thread the upper threads first. Now you do them last, and you have to manually make sure they have looped round the long thin thing or thread them again and again until they do. Ffffffffffffffffff
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Aug 30, 2017 08:47
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It’s really odd that I have this blog post about making your own jeans saved but here you go https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/did-you-make-that/2013/jul/02/how-to-make-your-own-jeans
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Apr 13, 2018 21:22
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legendof posted:If you just want to make a unisex tee, just trace a shirt you already have - I wouldn't bother to buy a pattern for something that straightforward. If you haven't done that before, watch a YouTube tutorial. Very simple how to 1. Get a seam ripper and unpick everything. 2. Carefully cut it to where the stitches were. 3. Trace out on to paper but don’t cut it out. You now have a pattern with just the stitching line on it. You need to add second lines running 1cm (1/4 inch) away from your stitching line, and cut round them. If it were a traditional pattern it would look like Cutting line-> | : <-stitching line Where people go wrong is to just unpick and trace, or to trace round the whole thing and end up with a t-shirt wonky or small.
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May 21, 2018 10:24
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I know this one by hard won experience.  Fabric shrinks, rayon can shrink by 20%. What happened was it shrank and the stitches pulled the fabric apart. You need to pre-wash and iron all your fabric before you sew, and then as you go along use an iron with the steam off (I use a travel iron) on all of your seams to set the stitches. WrenP-Complete posted:I mostly make boring cotton things so not sure I have much to contribute on this question, sorry. Lol hello wrenP  My advice it to avoid the books and get vogue starter patterns. (Avoid McCall like the plague), more expensive than other brands but they are much cleaner, have better instructions and seperate the sizes better. What companies do is get the middle size and then just draw the smaller and larger sizes next to them. Our bodies don’t work like that So if you get a pattern that is size 8-16 then size 12 will be perfect but 8 and 16 will be well out.
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May 21, 2018 19:10
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Anne Whateley posted:At each step I ironed more than I have ever ironed in my life, cumulatively Two other things I can think of is that your thread shrunk, if the thread you used was shiny then It would be it. Or, you didn’t finish off the edges and it frayed - that’s an easy thing to fix next time with a overlocking foot on your machine or zig zag scissors. Rayon will fade in the was but It really shouldn’t disintegrate all on its own. ???
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May 21, 2018 21:09
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Posting with a uk bargain for thread. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/55-Assor...872.m2749.l2649 55 rolls for £25 and it’s the same as gutermann sew all.
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Jun 5, 2018 09:14
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So the Singer overlocker/serger I have absolutly hated for as long as I have owned it finally died, it snarled it’s last fabric and lunched it’s own timing. Need a new one that isn’t absolutly dreadful to thread, has to be budget, I’m thinking Brother but I don’t know the difference between each model and the internet is not being helpful. Also I started a dress with really really expense fabric before I moved house a year ago. Found the fabric pieces all nicely cut out and interfaced and the bodice all assembled but not the instructions. There is so much fabric for the skirt, like four times as much fabric as you would expect and in 12 pieces that this must involve pleats or gathers of some kind. Mystery dress is a go!
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Jun 7, 2018 21:22
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So after much deliberation and reading of online manuals I went for the Brother M343D https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06WLQ8DBY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It’s latest generation with the more finely tuned threading system and lever/wheel placement, however they have removed the extra feet which you do get with the old bottom of the range one.
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Jun 13, 2018 07:11
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Using my free arm right now so yeh, this is what it looks like when you pull the front off. 
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Jun 13, 2018 21:31
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Ohh I couldn’t work it out. First thought was I would go with there wolf’s idea with the balloon but use a beach ball. But then I remembered it would be like that whole making a tin man/robot costume out of boxes, spraying them silver and then taping them in to it thing - at some point they will need to go to the toilet. so hinges would need to be added.
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Jun 26, 2018 21:09
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Put a needle in it and turn that wheel, if the needle goes clunk then it’s hosed beyond repair. You can test it by doing the glueing thing and manually turning the wheel, if it sews properly then you can work out what to do next
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Jun 30, 2018 13:51
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I’d get it serviced, they will need to check the motor as well.
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Jul 1, 2018 15:51
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I know this is a huge ego post but I wanted to show you all my completed sewing room (my bedroom) set up because it’s been days of hauling furniture around. 
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Oct 21, 2018 14:11
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I have a big built in cupboard for fabric and a old antique child size wardrobe which has things like patterns and ribbons in it - the thing in that room I would be lost without are the bedside tables with the draws, before them every time I sat down I had to spend ages just hunting for something I was using yesterday. I love that brother serger, it’s really basic but a million times better than the metal carcassed singer I had before which was impossible to thread and then finally, thankfully, lunched it’s own timing. One of my nan’s Best bits of advice was to have very different coloured threads in your serger, only fabrics it will look odd on are lightweight whites and it’s rare you use them, means you can immediately identify and fix the problem thread without having to play the terrible rethreading game.
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Oct 21, 2018 14:39
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To be honest I do four thread overlock on absolutely everything and use the rolled hem foot on my sewing machine on raw edges - kind of burned by that singer in that I’ve got it set up right and working and I’ll be damned if I change anything now.
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Oct 21, 2018 21:14
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Oh yes you can buy many feet, I’ve bought three of these, one for spare one as a gift. https://www.amazon.co.uk/KING-DO-WAY-Domestic-Machine/dp/B071NNDDXJ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1540158213&sr=8-4&keywords=Sewing+foot+set https://www.amazon.com/Professional...sewing+foot+set A few of them will change the way you sew, the 1/4 foot especially, you can’t see it in that picture very well but another helpful thing is to stick in a long bit of tape and draw your seam margin all along it, so you can guide your material along it a lot easier.
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Oct 21, 2018 22:48
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If you have a top loading washing machine then what you do is let it soak in cold gentle soapy water then spin it out - repeat till it’s clear. If you don’t then put it on top of a sheet in the bath/shower and do it by hand. Make sure you dry flat rather than hang so the fibres don’t get pulled apart.
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Oct 21, 2018 23:41
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Probably about 7  Another Wize thing is don’t bother buying those multi packs of cheap thread, get big 1000 yard rolls of gutterman sew all in black and white and then buy small rolls of colours as you need them, I’d say until you have built a nice collection but until?, there is no limit to how many colours I need lol
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Oct 22, 2018 06:26
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Because I don’t have Facebook... I bought 3kg of scrap fabric from a luxury lamp making business of all places for £14 on eBay and yes a lot of crap with some liberty and hand made prints but holy poo poo this panel. 
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Oct 22, 2018 16:52
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Please learn from me, if you plan on doing quilting ever, say no to jelly rolls, and certainly say no to jelly rolls you make yourself. I have spent literally weeks pinning and sewing strips together and never again. It’s been like mort cleaning binkie’s stable. Buy fat quarters, square them off and do this instead. https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/magic-8-half-square-triangle-units-2821440
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Oct 24, 2018 21:18
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I frustrated posted, I sewed 90 FQ length 2 1/2 strips in groups of three in preparation for a king size sampler quilt, and completely burned out. Saying that I’m now at the stage where the main centre piece is about to come together and now I’m thinking the end result will be worth it. As I posted the postman brought the teddy bear pattern for one of my teenage daughters so now it’s all got to be put on hold. This is ‘citing, she’s done patchwork stuff before but this is her first pattern so I get to teach her how to cut stuff out properly and read them and whatnot
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Nov 1, 2018 11:08
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I really wish this country had the same quilting tradition that America has, outside of London quilting bees simply don’t exist. would make the more tedious stages way less annoying if I could just look at another pattern for a few hours. May end up splitting this into two and giving them to the kids to sofa sit with though, I can see it going into storage and being babied if I don’t.
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Nov 1, 2018 15:57
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Correct me if I’m wrong but this isn’t “something to do with weights” is it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmLlYrWaTTA
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Nov 3, 2018 14:11
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I totally get the not doxing one’s own children thing but enquiring minds need to know. How did the willy wonka Halloween costume go on the day?
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Nov 4, 2018 12:04
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I got a quilting book recommendation https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00N9IDK70/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o03_?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This is genius, what she does is use needle punched battling cut into squares and pieces directly onto it, and assembles as blocks, that way you got the battling and top already done before the backing goes on. I’m going to be using this method to log cabin all my scrap as I accumulate it from now on.
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Nov 19, 2018 16:35
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Fabulous! I hope you all won first prize
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Nov 19, 2018 20:24
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I’m still relatively new to quilting, have just spent a lot of time on a few large and repetitive projects, and I’d never heard of needle punched battling. Fleece backing sounds like the way to go thank you, without it it could end up too thin in general.
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Nov 19, 2018 22:11
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I’ve been sewing stuff for 10 years now and I’m constantly amazed at how little I know, most feet are a mystery to me, I got put off doing shirt collars for years because of a Mcalls pattern that was marked as easy but was anything but and the list goes on. Blog bit: I had this teacher at school by the name of Mrs Batt “”IT’S GOT TWO Ts!” who was dreadful unless at age 12 and in your first lesson you could already thread a sewing machine she put you on some sort of twisted hate list and from that day on concentrated on people she called “natural talent”. Couldn’t be bothered to actually teach basically. Before I dropped the class at her insistence I made an appliqué peg bag for my mother, when Bat was showing off everyone’s work to the class she ignored mine so I thought well all right then. 15 years later I saw she was still using it and it was legitimately really good (ended up lasting 20 years) and that was when I got back into sewing.
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Nov 20, 2018 08:31
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Schmetz needles do not deserve the good reviews on Amazon. Not designed for the more powerful machines at all. First you find out that the eyes are too small for the automatic threader and then they hit the foot and snap.
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Nov 25, 2018 10:06
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Brace yourselves, it’s Pantone’s colour of the year time, this is the colour that will be in all the new fabrics in 2019... https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2018/dec/06/living-coral-pantone-colour-of-the-year-2019
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Dec 6, 2018 10:34
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I just realised where I have seen that before.  My old lady shopping trolly 
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Dec 6, 2018 13:05
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