Sewing Machine Problems

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

I am currently “borrowing” a sewing machine from a neighbor – I say borrowing in quotes because he’s not been able to get it to work and therefore when I asked to borrow it he said “if you know how to get it to work, you can keep it, I’ll borrow it if I need it”. It is a White model 8800. I used it this Halloween to make a basic circle poodle skirt for my daughter’s costume, The skirt itself actually came out quite good, I was surprised considering I hadn’t really sewn anything by machine literally since my Home Economics class in 7th grade – which goes back to 1975 – yes I know I’m dating myself, but oh well. But I was able to successfully put in a waistband and a zipper, so the skirt really came out looking pretty darn good if I do say so myself. OK I digress – my issue with this sewing machine is that the thread keeps breaking – I can’t use it for very long before I am having to stop because the thread breaks. It’s a miracle that I was able to complete the skirt even with this problem, but I did. I wasn’t as concerned because it was just a costume. Now I would like to take on trying some other things with the machine, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why the thread keeps breaking, and what to do to correct it. Maybe I have it threaded wrong? It does have a visual description on the machine itself, but the owner does not have any type of instruction manual. Can you give me any help in troubleshooting what to do to stop this machine from breaking the thread all the time? I appreciate it very much. Sorry for the long dissertation. Thanks much!

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

oh no! Here’s some things that might cause thread to break: machine is not threaded properly, cheap or old thread being used, an old needle being used, tension may be off (check top and bobbin tension), the bobbin thread is not wound neat and evenly or the machine needs cleaning. Also, check your spool and how the thread is being fed through the machine. Some spools has a notch on the end to hold the loose thread when not in use but sometimes thread can get caught in this notch as you’re sewing and break. If after all this, there’s still problems there could be a broken gear inside the machine and you should take it to a professional machine maintenance person. I hope “your” machine gets well soon!

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