The First 4 Things to Try When Your Sewing Machine Acts Out

I learned how to sew when I was young.  I’m still surprised that my mom trusted me enough to let me sew on her super nice machine.  Inevitably  something would go wrong (I mean, I was 8 years old.  Of course something was going to go wrong!).  I’d sew a seam only to find a mess of thread underneath or the machine would stop sewing even stitches (or a hundred other things).  I’d run upstairs and call my mom and no matter what mess I’d gotten that machine into, she could sit down and fix it.

When I got my own machine I panicked.  How in the world was I supposed to fix all of the things that would go wrong?  I hoped that since I was older (I was in college by then) I’d find myself in less messes.  But not the case.  I’d get my machine into these crazy modes where it simply wouldn’t cooperate with me, and, completely embarrassed, I’d have to call up my mom for help.

I’d explain the problem and right away she’d give me something to try.  At first I rolled my eyes at her ideas- there was no way a little lint would cause the problem I was dealing with!  Or so I thought 🙂  Despite my eye rolling, her suggestions worked like a charm every time.

After a while I realized my mom didn’t have hundreds of fixes for all the different problems.  In fact, she really only had 4.  So I made a rule that before I called her I’d have to try her 4 go-to fixes.  I honestly don’t remember calling her again.

So, what are these four fixes that solve hundreds of issues?  They are so easy, you won’t believe it.

1. Make sure you machine is threaded correctly.  This includes both your spool of thread on top and the bobbin on the bottom.  Every machine is threaded a little differently, so I always suggest looking it up in your Instruction Manual to make sure you get it exactly right (if you’re like me and can never find the manual when you need it, you can probably find it online by searching for ‘Janome 415 (substitute the name and number of your machine here) Instruction Manual’) .  Pay attention to the little details, small things like which way the thread is unwinding from the bobbin are important.  Once you look it up, you can use the threading numbers on your machine to help you remember what to do.  Even once you learn just how to do it, sometimes the thread slips out of place while you’re sewing, so if you’re having trouble an easy test is to take out your thread and re-thread the machine.

2. Clean your machine.  I know this one is a little intimidating, but once you do it once I think you’ll find it’s pretty easy.  My machines take about 2-3 minutes to clean and that includes the time it takes to unscrew everything and put it back together in the end.  Once again, every machine is a little different, so you’ll want to pull out your manual and see just how to clean your sewing machine.  I can not tell you how many problems I have solved by cleaning the lint out of my machine!  This is seriously the one that fixes the most problems.  It’s also the one I’d roll my eyes about the most.   ‘Seriously, Mom?!  You think my machine refuses to sew because it has a bit of lint in it?!’  But she was always right.  Now I try to clean out my machines before problems come up to avoid the headache.  I try to do it with every two bobbins worth of thread I sew and it seems to keep things running quite smoothly.

3. Oil your machine.  This one is the one that seems most intimidating to people, but to be honest it is the easiest to do!  You’ll normally have to take off a face plate or something to get to the places your machine needs oil, but they are typically the same places you’ll be getting into when you clean out the lint from your machine, so if you oil at the same time you’re golden.  Again, every machine is different so check your manual.  It should have a nice diagram with big arrows pointing to where you’ll place a drop of oil.  You’ll hear the difference in your machine right away.  An un-oiled machine runs with a clunk-clunk-clunk sound where as an oiled machine runs with a soft ‘whir’.   Once you learn to hear the difference your machine will give you the perfect reminder to open it up and clean and oil.

4. Change your needle.  By now you’ve realized that sewing machines are finicky creatures.  The smallest disturbance can throw off their performance.  In the same way a bit of lint can throw it off, so can a small snag in a needle.  It’s always good to start a new project with a fresh needle, and definitely worth switching out if your machine is giving you trouble!

There are certainly things that can go wrong with a sewing machine that go beyond these 4 items.  However, I definitely suggest trying them out before taking it in to a professional.  I think you’ll find that you can work out most issues in the couple minutes it takes to try these out.