Hey BoJangles,
Try sewing with no thread until you learn the foot pedal coordination.
Keep your presser foot up with no cloth for a few minutes until your feet/foot gets a feel for the treadle. Don't want the feed dogs scraping the bottom of your presser foot.
Then put fabric under the foot and try treadling and guiding fabric at the same time. It actually takes most people a few practice sessions to get their hands separated from their feet, me included :-)
When you can keep the machine going forward, and keep the fabric where you want it, then put thread in needle and see what happens when you sew.
This is actually what many of the manufacturers have suggested in their manuals, and it does help us to learn.
Can you post a picture of your thread tension assembly? We can take a look and see if we can help you figure out if it is installed correctly.
Aardie
Originally Posted by BoJangles
Yes, I printed out the manual, but I'd still like to find the new Manual that is suppose to be out on how to care for the vintage treadles.
I got my machine all cleaned up and put a new belt on it along with the rubber thingy that makes the bobbin wind. I got a bobbin wound -- geeze what a funny little bobbin case and bobbin! So off I went to try and sew -- not so much -- I can't seem to get a rhythm going and all I do is go back and forth and break thread!
I think the machine needs a new check spring thing -- the spring keeps jumping above the little stop thing on the side of the tension disk then the thread comes out?
I love the machine, but I need a LOT of practice sewing -- treadling is not easy!
Nancy