I didn't know they were called FEED DOGS bc they are hungry for my fabric! My machine is eating my fabric! The lower bobbin thread is turning into big balls of thread stuck between the top of the machine on the dogs and inside the machine underneath the dogs. It's been taking forever to cut it out of there. The fabric is getting into that mess, too, and it's ruining it. I've cleaned and re-threaded and had it all apart and put it back....tried different tensions/threads...
This is the same thing my older Brother did before I quit using it. I remember this now, after the new one starts up. I haven't even had it one year! I'm trying to contact Brother about it. My closest repair shop is over one hour away!
Maybe I should try these dogs on the Purina Diet?!
Presser foot pedal (the "gas") has been hesitating, too.
Needle bit me good, too, while I was working on it!
That's my gripes for the day. Thanks for listening.

I can't wait for someone to jump in and explain the "whys" for this one! It happens all the time with my BRAND NEW Janome! I want to pitch it out the window sometimes and stick with my ancient Kenmore.
I've tried changing needles, threads, rewinding my bobbins, etc. to no avail.
:evil:
Maybe it will see the next garage sale first-hand.

jumperfamily: I know the feeling! I'm thinking, "back to WM you go!"
I'm thinking about trying a different brand. Maybe a singer? I don't know what to do.
I never talked to anyone at Brother, yet. I called long distance and it said the wait would be more than 5 minutes. I held for a while. nothing but that lovely music....I called the 1-800 number, but it said the wait was over 12 minutes! I don't have all day to wait on them. I have e-mailed them before with no return answer.
I'm about to cut my Brother out of the family tree.

Are you using leaders or holding the thread when you first start sewing. If you aren't then that explains it. I have the same problem when I don't either use the leaders or hang on to the thread when first starting out. Big globs of thread. What a mess. Hope this helps you, if not then maybe someone else can help.

Rita

I usually use a scrap to start and finish because I'm too lazy to hunt down all those long threads and clip them. It seems I have the biggest problem when I'm starting on corners or stitching on the bias. Does it then even with a scrap starter.

GRRRR!!! :x

I DID, however, find that it helps to start in the "needle down" position and go REALLY slow at the start. Tedious to say the least.

Shelly

Wish I could bring you a nice cuppa and give you a hand but I have heard on more than one forum about the WM Brother machines. The Singer machines of today are not what your Mom used to use either. :( Now about the Janome, jumperfamily. I haven't heard too many problems with them. I have 2 ~ my dealer is about 45 minutes away and well worth the time when problems arise. I shall keep watching this post so maybe I can learn along with you.

piney

I have a Singer (my husband thought he was "blessing" me) that I really don't like - too "lightweight" for my sewing needs. I also have an REALLY old Kenmore that the only real problem is the lack of advanced quilting accesories and stitch options - otherwise it's a workhorse.
The Jenome was purchased in a moment of frustration - I NEEDED a walking foot and my solution was quite expensive! :mrgreen: Ah, I don't splurge often...
I guess I will break down and haul my lazy butt to the dealer and ask them, it just seems easier to whine about it!
Shelly

i'll add myself to the victim list. My Simplicity does that sometimes for no reason that makes sense. the singer, too. used to drive me NUTS!!! After getting sick of trying to get it working again, i'd put the [pick your favorite cuss-type word] thing aside, get out my backup machine and work on that for a few days. when i'd go back to the simplicity, it would work fine. go figure. i guess my machine has mood swings. LOL

purely by accident i discovered that if i take the top thread all the way out, put in a new needle and rethread the top (after unclogging the bobbin well, of course) it works again. i was surprised - and sorry - to read that none of those things helped you, Miranda, cause i dunno what else to suggest. except ... hmmmm .... i wonder .... are you using the size bobbin your machine likes best? all of mine prefer the old fashioned metal bobbins with the holes in them. (i don't know why. i've given up trying to find the answers to such cosmic mysteries. LOL)

My Singer did that one day. I could not figure out why to save my life, then I just thought maybe my bobbin was too full. It wasn't any fuller than any other day, but I took some thread off and tried it again and it worked perfectly and has since. (KNOCK ON WOOD) I hate that about your Brother, it isn't even a year old yet. If they made things like they used to back when, we wouldn't have these problems.

Well, thanks so much for all the posts so far.
I tried sewing with it a little bit today. It only once made a funny clunking noise down near the bobbin area or lower. ?
I readjusted the thread tension...while working, and it was fine. The foot pedal didn't hum and procrastinate or anything. I only sewed for about 5 minutes, though.

The problem doesn't happen when I first start out. Right when you get going good and in the middle of something. When I first start out, I do "practice" on a scrap. Of course the darned thing would mess up on the real thing.
I was working on a button hole on the back of the cherry dress I made when it started eating the fabric.
I fixed it and it did it again! Now you know why I only showed the front of the dress in the pics. I used snap tape, finally. That turned out to be a mistake, also. But it functions.

My bobbin stops threading when it is full.

I'm using the bobbins that came with the machine and was careful only to use those. THe ones in my old machine were the exact same, so I have borrowed. That's all I have. It says in the manual to not use the metal bobbins. (or "bobbers" as one woman I met in TN was calling them).

I cannot hold onto my lower thread or even pull it back when I start sewing bc it is a drop in bobbin, and to thread the lower bobbin, I have to wind it around a little area and it cuts off. The top is self-threading. I pull out enough and let it dangle behind the machine. It always stays.
Maybe it didn't that time, but I was way into sewing...

I still didn't get to talk to anyone at brother today. I'm going to email them again.