Did you ever feel like your timing was off? In life it can make for awkward moments that leave people staring at their shoes. In a sewing machine it can take the sewing right out of the machine! I’m going to tell you a story, a story of sewing machine woes that started late Thursday evening. We’ll get into the details below, but I can tell y’all it hasn’t made for a very fun Friday this week!
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Pants Story
If you’ve been following along for a while, y’all know that I’m always {seems like it} fixing my husband’s work pants, which are jeans. He’s a welder & between sparks, sweating, & friction they are always gettin’ holy. It’s an ongoing saga I wrote about a while back, if you want to read about holy pants! This is the machine I use to fix all those holes, my Singer Heavy Duty. Sorry the photo is grainy, it’s an older one. Thought it was fitting since you can see the pile of pants behind it!
Last night about 10 p.m. I hear my husband open the door to the dryer. That’s odd at the moment because our dryer isn’t working. I asked what he was looking for & he replied “pants”.
Me: “Well, they are hanging up to dry, darling dear, ahem.” {basically}
Hubs: “Will they be dry by the morning?”
Me: “Maybe. Why did you wait until 10 at night to check on pants?”
Hubs: “I thought I had some clean”
Me: “Guess I can try to patch a pair right quick” big huff
I mean seriously??? Anyway, I drag out my machine get it all set up & start patching. Suddenly things go all sideways & I have a huge bird’s nest under the fabric. I clean it up start to sew & then I hear it. A scraping noise. Something’s not right in sewing town….
It’s All About the Timing
When I opening up my machine to see what was going on I realized the needle was hitting the bottom of the shuttle hook. That’s not supposed to happen! I turned to Google for answers & it said the timing was off on my machine. Biggest culprit to make that happen? Sewing through heavy fabrics!
Seems crazy since this is a heavy duty sewing machine, but what do I know. It suggested taking it to a technician which would cost about $75 to $100. I only paid $100 for the whole machine because I caught it on an Amazon flash sale. Pftt! This thing wasn’t just off a little either, the slot the needle is supposed to go into is on the opposite side of the needle. How the heck did that even happen???
After more Googling & YouTube watching I found info on how to possibly fix this. Mind you it’s only getting later & later in the evening. I had to turn my machine on it’s side & take off the bottom cover. That cover was filled with lint balls & a broken needle – yuck!
I needed to loosen these little weird screws on the shaft to be able to adjust the shuttle hook…
This required a tiny hex wrench & I was glad we had one on hand. Of course I could not get them to loosen for nothing! My husband happen to come in after having a shower right in the middle of this. Here’s how that conversation went…
Hubs: “Are all of these fixed, or what?” {referring to the pile of jeans in the floor I through there in frustration}
Me: “Uh no! Your pants broke my machine!”
Hubs: {taken aback} “What?”
Me: {long tirade of what’s been happening while he was in the shower} “I can’t get these screws to loosen!”
Hubs: “Move & let me take a look”
He did get them loosened & then he went to bed. I stayed up until after 1 in the morning trying to fix it, then I went to bed a very un-happy sewer!
The Next Day
After some rest, coffee, & breakfast I decided to work on the machine some more. Loosening those screws {there are 3 by the way} did not allow me to turn the shuttle hook around completely. I noticed another weird screw holding the shaft of the shuttle hook in place…
I loosened up the screw & also had to remove another part over the shuttle hook so I could turn the whole thing around. Some washers slipped out of the bottom…
Those are probably important and I bet that little hook thing on the goldish one is important too. Sigh. I had to unscrew the black plastic thing-a-ma-jig so I could put the washers back on. The needle is almost in the right place, but it’s catching just before the slot still. After working on it for about 3 hours, I couldn’t look at it anymore. It’s currently on the dining room table waiting to be fixed still. Sigh & sigh again.
Second Machine Dilemma
All this made me remember that I’d bought a new part for one of my favorite sewing machines…
I’ve had this for about 10 years, but it is an awesome machine. That is until it started doing this…
When it first started doing this, I noticed there was a notch in the bobbin case that the thread was catching on. I ordered a new bobbin case & it did not solve the problem. The bobbin case was missing a felt pad like the original, so I thought that might be why. So I ordered another bobbin case with the felt pad.
I just put that in today, even though I’ve had it for months & months. Stitched the top stitching for a bag & it seemed to be working fine. Then I changed the thread & fabric & it was doing it again. Ugh y’all!
I did a little more research on it & found this video from Christopher Nejman on YouTube. Y’all I’m certain I’ve messed up the thread cassette because I never noticed the green light! You’re supposed to wait for it to be green before shoving the cassette in. Have I been doing this? No, no I have not!
Anyway, I’ve ordered a new cassette & hopefully that will fix my problem finally. I love that machine & they don’t make them anymore! Until then I’ll be sewing on the machine that I’ve been using thus far. I call her Sandy!
She hasn’t let me down so far & I really hope she keeps sewing those seams for a long time! I hope ya’ll are having a better start to your weekend than me! : )
10 Comments on Sewing Machine Woes
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oh man, Kristie, what a bummer! Luckily you had 2 backups…well, one I guess.
Hope you get the other 2 fixed soon. Just makes me realize that I better hold on to all my machines just in case 😉
Yeah, I’m glad I do have extra machines! I had one more but I gave it to a budding sewist in the family. My dad has a heavy duty Singer too, so if I really need it I can borrow it. 🙂
I have at least 15 backup machines, so I’m pretty much prepared for anything! Was thinking of thinning the flock, but after what you have been experiencing, maybe not. They don’t take up that much space under the quilting frame. I have learned a lot about repairs, but have not had to deal with timing problems yet. I’m sure that is coming. Hope you are back up and running soon and that the dryer gets back to drying.
Wow Paula! That’s a lot of machines! I do like to have backups because I’ve had my machine completely break down on me during important sewing business. I got the part for one of them today so fingers crossed it fixes the problem!
Kristie, many of those machines are from my sewing school. I take them with me when I teach if people don’t have their own to bring. Soon, I will probably sell off a few. I’m hoping to get on with the community college continuing education program where I will require students bring their own sewing machines.
So did the part fix the problem you were having on your one machine? It can be so frustrating, and then when you get it working, it is such a good feeling because you didn’t have to pay high cost of a repair person. I could so relate to how you were feeling when you couldn’t loosen the screws.
That sounds like fun! I wish they had something like that at our local college, I think it would be well received.
Unfortunately the new cassette did not fix my problem with that machine. That means I will most likely have to take it to be repaired, if I can find anyone that can repair it. I haven’t given up on it yet! 🙂
Wow what a stressful night and day for you Kristie, I bet you wanted a drink (alcohol) really badly, I know I would and I don’t drink much at all. I have a few (not telling how many) backups, I also have lots I want to fix myself, but here in Australia its impossible to get the parts or the tools unless you are a licensed sewing machine repairer. I was hoping that hubbie (being a mechanic by trade) would take the repairs up as a hobby, but no he wants me to do it and he will take gold instead. Oh well I guess I will need to buy lots of alcohol for when I start fixing my broken machines. Take care and hope all goes well. xx
That should say golf not gold.
Thanks for clarifying! I was a little puzzled at that, haha!
Oh yes, I definitely could of used a drink! I don’t even know of anyone in this area that could fix my machines. I will have to look around if I can’t get them working again.