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  1. #21
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    Can you try this; with the compartment door open, hold the top thread with your left hand, slowly turn the machine advance with your right hand, and watch to see if the "hook" catches the thread loop and pulls it all the way around the bobbin case. If not, you might have to disassemble the "hook race" and clean out lint from the area above the bobbin case, (a small paintbrush is good for this) then reassemble it.
    This is somewhat complicated, but it could be worth the effort; my machine clogs up here freqently, but I sew a lot of cotton, wool and linen, in between bouts of ripstop....HTH, Betsy

  2. #22
    Senior Member john30563's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by beamarshall View Post
    Can you try this; with the compartment door open, hold the top thread with your left hand, slowly turn the machine advance with your right hand, and watch to see if the "hook" catches the thread loop and pulls it all the way around the bobbin case. If not, you might have to disassemble the "hook race" and clean out lint from the area above the bobbin case, (a small paintbrush is good for this) then reassemble it.
    This is somewhat complicated, but it could be worth the effort; my machine clogs up here freqently, but I sew a lot of cotton, wool and linen, in between bouts of ripstop....HTH, Betsy
    I'm not real familiar with a sewing machine. What do you mean by the hook and the hook race?

  3. #23
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    In the bobbin compartment, around the place the bobbin case clips in, is a circular metal frame, (in my machine it is held down by two spring loades levers) that holds a complicated metal shape that oscillates clockwise, then counter clockwise, as you move the manual advance wheel; it has a noticeably wicked looking point on it, this is to catch the thread loop formed as the needle begins to raise back up from it's lowest position- this pointy thing is the "hook"; the metal circle that keeps it from flying out of place is the "hook race"; in conjunction with the metal back of the bobbin comartment.
    again- your machine may be different in detail, but the process for all the vertical bobbin designs are pretty much the same; I remove the bobbin and it's case, rotate the two levers up and out to release the metal ring, then catch the "hook" part which will fall out (!) It fits into a recess in the large metal back piece- try to see if you can press/jiggle it back in, this will help you fit it correctly when it is time to reassemble; nw lay out the 3 or 4 pieces on the table nearby and get a small (watercolor or similar) brush and poke it around inside the case area, especially up in the area under the needle pass through/ hole in the throat plate. Blow frequently into this area to remove the dust clumps the brush will dislodge. now the tricky part- putting it back together! I usually put the hook part back in with my left hand and hold it against the bak part- slowly moving the advance wheel, till it slips into it's divot, then I use my right hand to place the "race" ring in it's approximate place; which should keep the hook from falling out while you jiggle the ring back onto it's registration pins; if the hook gets out of it's divot, just go and tuns the advance wheel back and forth a bit at a time till it slips back into place, while holding light pressure on the ring. (excessive force is not required at any of these points, and is probably a bad idea just in general- unless you are clearing a major thread snarl) final steps- push the holding levers back over the ring- expect maybe a small click, and put the bobbin and case back is as usual, then proceed with the re-threading process.

    Probably more than you needed to hear; but I got on a roll, sorry 'bout that! HTH- Betsy

  4. #24
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    John30563,

    I was wondering if you ever got the problem with the machine resolved and what the cause for the malfunction was. Any news?

  5. #25
    Senior Member john30563's Avatar
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    No I didn't. i went up to my moms and used her machine. I think really something is wrong with the tension on my machine. My mom finally got it to pick up the bobbin a couple of times but it would always break the thread after about 10-15 stitches. My mom says the tension is messed up. I guess I need to take it to the shop.

  6. #26
    Senior Member fin's Avatar
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    Man, I've been fighting the same problem all day with my sewing machine. Only I can get it to pick up about every 8 or 9th time, and then I start sewing and it creates a birds nest and jams, never having pulled any thread from the bobbin. I wasted an entire day trying to sew one friggin seam! I went out and bought new thread, different needles - nothing works! I think I need some sewing lessons, or a different machine. I know I can't waste that amount of time and get nothing done. I would have had my project done by now hand sewing.

  7. #27
    Senior Member Preacha Man's Avatar
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    It gets very frustrated. It sounds to me that your tension is off somewhere. Either your bobbin tension, or thread tension. I am no sewing machine guru, and run to my wife every time, but I know that other people here will help you better soon. Take some deep breaths, I get really mad too, thats how I get Amanda to sew everything for me

    Dwight
    Psalm 19:1-3 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

  8. #28
    Senior Member froldt's Avatar
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    I was tired of waiting and decided to try the cheap route. I purchased a handy-stitch sewing machine thingie at Wal-Mart for about $16. Of course, I could only get it to sew for about an inch before it would quit pulling thread. Or it wouldn't sew at all, only stab holes in the fabric (glad I tested it first...).
    The plan was to use it and return it, but I'm just going to have to return it!

    Likewise, s62w23098, I could have hemmed my two hammocks up by now by hand, but I know that stitching some 33 ft of hems just doesn't appeal to me. Especially after about a foot into it. *sigh*

    So, I'll have to return my el-cheapo machine (which I think has already been returned, based on the included batteries that aren't supposed to be there) and either chase down the theater's costume making workroom or wait till I can nab my sister's machine.
    Alas, if only patience were a virtue that I possessed!

  9. #29
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    Check a local sewing machine repair place. They frequently have abandoned used machines for sale, tuned up and ready to go. You could probably find a good basic machine.

  10. #30
    Senior Member Preacha Man's Avatar
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    Yep, Amanda just picked up another real nice sewing machine from freecylce.something . We have to have it repaired and tuned, but the price to repair it is still way cheaper than buying the whole thing new. Now we have 4 machines aaaaahhhhhhh.

    Dwight
    Psalm 19:1-3 "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."

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