Originally Posted by Mollie'sMom
I read all of this thread and not once did I see anyone mention that the presser foot has to be down. When I first started to use a hopping foot, I did not lower the presser foot (it is hard to tell if it is up or down when there is a thick quilt under it). Boy, did I ever have tension problems and a lot of ripping out to do. .......
Mollie's Mom makes a good point. Sometimes, when we are so accustomed to doing a thing, we neglect to mention the obvious, like the presser foot being down when sewing with the darning foot.
Along that same line, when using the darning foot, it is good practice to raise the bobbin thread to the top before proceeding; helps to eliminate those bird nests.