1/9/14

Why won’t she sew?

A couple days ago, I was arguing with my Grandmother’s 15-91.  She had just finished the straight line ditch work and had done a phenomenal job at it. 

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Then, I started the FMQ and she’d sew a bit and then start to skip stitches.  I rethreaded.  It was awful hard to get the thread through the eye of the needle.  It didn’t help.  I rethreaded again.  Didn’t help.  I walked away.  This was one of the same problems I had with her several months ago. 

Has anybody figured out the problem yet?  I’ve given you the clues.

Next morning, I pulled out the owner’s manual and took out the thread again.  I decided to replace the needle.  And, that’s when I caught it. 

The needle was in the wrong way. 

What an idiot I am.  I’ve probably put every needle in this machine backward.  No wonder she wouldn’t sew.  I’m surprised she did the straight line work, but to her credit, she did, even with her handicapped needle.

Now, she’s doing wonderfully at those rope wreaths and I can hardly wait to show them off.  But, they need to develop a little bit more first.

Everybody have a great day and I hope your sewing problems are as easy to solve. 

Lane

6 comments:

Rebecca Grace said...

I never would have guessed backwards needle! I would have thought maybe the needle had dulled or bent slightly, and my second guess was going to be that the thirsty old lady needed a drink of oil. Glad you figured it out.

I FINALLY got to piece with my newest (to me), oldest (1935) Featherweight yesterday evening! Previously the light came on when she was plugged in but she would not sew. My DH found a wiring diagram and was able to fix the connections at the foot control that were wrong, and now she hums and purrs along beautifully.

I love how when something goes wrong with these old machines, it may take some sleuthing, but once you find the problem it tends to be a very easy, very inexpensive fix. Not like the modern computerized machines when they need new mother boards and print drives or whatnot!

mssewcrazy said...

I've got a lot of machines here new and old and I finally learned the hard way to always take a quick look at the needle insertion direction and threading whether left to right, front to back,etc and the same for the bobbin if it's been awhile since I used it. I know that sounds stupid but it's really annoying when you have something wrong. Love the 15-90 and that it is from your grandmother. If you don't mind, where do you get a foot like that or what is it called for fmq. I have other vintage singers so am thinking I could get one for them. I like all the quilting tips as I would like to learn to free motion quilt.

Bianca said...

How wonderful to find out what was wrong, although a bit sooner would have been better. That's why I always read manuals to new-to-me gadgets and machines.... Once I read about it, I'll never forget.
Hope you can sew to your hearts content! xxx

lw said...

I've had this happen. I've got five sewing machines set up and another five in their cases, and each machine now has a Dymo label on it saying something like "Needle flat to right side, threads right to left." Because I got really tired of looking it up every time.

Kath said...

funny you should say that Lane. I just took my Janome 800 out of hibernation and set her up in my new cabinet. To my dismay, an error message came up and she won't sew. I am now searching the internet to try and discover what the error means...

Susan Entwistle said...

Glad you found your problem before it drove you crazy. I'm also thankful that you can't put a needle in backwards in my machine :)