here are pics of the machine: No cams in the unit binding it up or anything. We did play with all the other settings -- width of zigzag, length of straight stitch -- switching to bh & back, everything we could think of. We had 3 sets of eyes on it while cranking the handwheel, and none of could see anything out of line or not working as it should be... its got us stumped!
My daughter looked at me longingly when she saw this post and said, "mom, if it can be fixed, I could make my own quilt" -- I'm scared to let her alone with my husq's or my serger. She has always been into garment design... she's always been tall & skinny and we've had to make a lot of her own clothes (bottoms especially) because its impossible to buy a Sz. 6 waist / sz. 12 length combo off-the-rack. Sewing has been a part of our lives, she doesn't know any different. Now that she's getting ready to turn 13, she wants to do her own stuff.