Originally Posted by immeme
Yes, it is on a quilting frame. Tommy even put in a new bobbin case to see if mine was defective and it didn't change nything. He also watched it sewing very closely. I will do it again though. Can you get sewing aid at Hancock's or JoAnn's? I will definitely try some.
Thanks for all your suggestions. There's got to be something that will work.
Immeme
I believe I got it at Joann's. It's in the notions area.
Does your machine sew fine off the frame? I didn't realize it was on a frame or I would have started with that question.
Your shredding & fraying could be caused by the batting, too much tension on your sandwich or quilt is too high off the machine bed. Some fabric will also cause thread to shred and/or skip. The rubbery feeling white on white and the really tight batiks.
You didn't mention which needles your machine takes so I'm going to presume it takes regular domestic needles. I know some versions of the Janome 1600p take the round, industrial type so if your's is one of those, forget the next part. Use a top-stitch needle. It has a larger eye or the largest metallic needle you can find. If the thread appears to be fraying at the eye.
I just realized that if your Janome is one of the ones with the round shank needle, you could have it in backwards but I would think the technician checked that. The "scarf" faces front and some machines like the needle to be slightly off the 6 o'clock position--say 5:30 or 6:30 but no more than that.
I hope you are trying one thing at a time & testing. I've confused myself just typing this so that I have to keep re-reading what I typed--LOL!