Originally Posted by
Girlfriend
May I ask you a stupid question? How did you know it threw the timing off? I've run over pins by accident and my machine made a bad noise, and I worried at the time if I did something to the machine. How would I know if the timing was off? It seems to run OK.
This isn't a stupid question. Lots of people will blame timing for things that aren't. It's a good thing to know!
Yes, pins can throw timing on a machine, so can overly dense stitches (think an embroidery pattern sized too small, and the thread builds up, or satin stitching, same problem) It's way more common to throw timing on a "newer" machine if only because they have rubber or plastic gears that can flex, or crack. The older machines were metal gears, so they are harder to flex out of the way, or force apart.
a machine with a timing can skip stitches - but so can a needle in the wrong way. Sometimes it'll do it only on some fabrics and not others, which can be hard to figure out.
it can not pick up the bobbin thread or only does it sometimes
it can, if the timing is far enough out, smash needles on parts of the hook
I'd say if your machine is working OK, it's probably not out of time.
If you want to know more about timing, and how to check it, in layman's terms, I wrote a series of articles on it in January, they start here:
http://www.archaicarcane.com/2013/01...have-the-time/