Feeling really stupid
 

A few days back I asked if anyone could tell me why I was getting skipped stitches. Well after that I made some recommended adjustments, started quilting again and my needle wasn't picking up the bobbin thread so now no stitches. My guy took the machine off the frame, cleaned again, oiled, tried to find out the problem. We spent hours on this. Rethreaded, new needle, new bobbin, watching the bobbin move to see if the problem was noticeable, etc. Finally realized I had been threading the needle in the wrong direction. Thread it right and it Works fine now. Talk about feeling really stupid. Duh. Now I'm wishing needle thread direction is standard on all machines. I think my problem is that the machine I piece on goes the opposite way and I get so used to it. I took a marker and drew an arrow pointing to the way it should go on the machine, hopefully done with that mistake.

Those with multiple machines they use frequently have no doubt "felt stupid" a time or two, also. I have only two which thread differently and I know I've felt stupid a time or two!

Don't feel stupid, we have an entire club of people who have done this! You're the newest member, your pin and jacket are in the mail! Welcome! :D

I hate the word "stupid" You are not "stupid". I just check my manuals to remind myself how to thread my machines all "2" of them.

Nope, you're not stupid, been there done that. An easy way to remember is that a needle always threads towards the flat side of the shank. So if you know which way the flat side goes into the machine you always know which direction to thread it.

Cari

It happens. Have a good chuckle, slap yourself on the forehead (not too hard), and move on. I think most of us had those DUH moments.

LOL.. not stupid at all. I've got machines that thread left to right, right to left and front to back and I often have to drop the needle a bit to check which side is flat so I thread them right. Usually, I check after I've done it wrong at least twice and rethreaded a few times. And I've even got a few machines that use industrial needles with no flat side at all... and I can't tell you how many times I put those in wrong.

So glad you figured it out, and thanks for sharing as this is likely a common mistake many of us make!!

Glad you figured out what the problem was! Your guy did not catch the problem either.

I do know that "duh!" feeling, though. (Don't much care for it!)

I guess that I am the stupid one. I didn't realize that not all machines thread the same way!!

I have had many a day like that! Sometimes the obvious is just not obvious. For some reason our brains know what we thought we did, thus skip checking that what we actually did was correct. I spent several days like that while trying to quilt a quilt. Can't tell you how many stitches I took out because of the mess that showed up on the back of the quilt. Finally went to the machine to check it one more time before taking it to the shop...and saw that the machine was not threaded correctly. I only missed one, tiny step when I threaded it, but, oh, the extra work that missed step caused me!

It's not that we are dumb. We're just imperfect humans.

Not stupid! I keep the manuels for all my machines near by (and take to classes or retreats) cause this happens more often than I want to admit!

Not stupid...........I also have machines which thread left to right, front to back, etc. My ex daughter-in-law put the needle in backwards and I took it to the repair shop, nothing wrong with machine it was her operator error>>>>and no they didn't get divorced over that, lol.

Brain farts is what some people call them........some last all day long.

I thought I wrote this in my sleep. LOL

My Juki is threaded differently from any machine I have ever had and it is a 2nd machine that I don't use as much. There is a hook that the thread goes through three times!!.. I have to keep the manual right with the machine to double check that I am threading it correctly.

My Juki worked best when i used only the first and third holes.

Your marker Idea is a great solution. When you use several machines it can be easy to miss the correct path. Making a diagram would also be a good idea. Glad you solved your problem.
peace

I've done that too! LOL I have one machine that threads left to right and one that threads right to left, the other two thread front to back. If it's been a while since I've sewn on one I pull out the manual to remind myself which way to the thread goes.

My most frequent DUH! moment happens when I'm FMQing---everything is zipping along nicely, stitches are looking pretty, and then that oops moment occurs when I realize I've forgotten to lower my presser foot---it's amazing how nice the stitches on top can look while there's a rat's nest forming on the bottom--the problem here is, that my main quilting machine doesn't seem to mind at all, so I can get quite a large area quilted before I realize there's a problem:shock:

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I have one of the three hole bars. I use the first one only. As a thread guide. No weaving over the other holes. The weaving through the other holes are for speciality threads. Had a tech explain it to me at Paducah quilt show. He said he wished the three hole bar was never put on machines.

I feel stupid (it'a valid word) when I completely miss the mark. It helps keep me humble.

I have copies of the threading and bobbin insertion pages from the machine manuals tacked on the wall behind each machine to avoid that.

That's always a stopper .... If you do not have the sewing machine manual handy.

love the marker idea. Sounds like you are really smart, not stupid. And should I say that was a clever way to get your machine cleaned and overhauled.....LOL

My mother tells a story from back before I was even born.

At the time my dad was a lowly rank in the RAF. In those days it was frowned upon for the wives of higher ranks to associate the wives of lower ranks (some kind of 'class' thing, I suppose). Anyway, for some reason mum passed on a good sewing machine to the wife of a high-ranking officer. After a week the lady complained that the machine was faulty, making insinuations about the lower-rank riff-raff cheating her.

So mum went over to the officer's house, and checked out the machine. The first thing she did was check the threading.

It turned out that the officer's wife had previously had a machine where the needle threaded from the side. The 'new' machine threaded the needle from the front. So the wife had removed the needle from its housing, rotated it 90 degrees and reinserted it with the hole on the side. So of course it wasn't going to work!

I suspect that my mum gloated about the idiocy of officers wives for quite some time, considering she still remembers the story 50+ years later.....

K

Don't feel stupid my friend. This is a learning experience. Bet you will NEVER thread it wrong again.

One of those lessons in perserverance that all of us have dealt with. I think we all find these experienced once in a while. Please don't use the term 'stupid' because it is not a characteristic that applies to one who is working through a problem.

Can you make a tiny little arrow out of adhesive tape and put it somewhere on your machine to remind you which way to thread the machine? May sound silly, but some of us have multiple machines, and may thread in different directions.

About 70 years ago, I was told to thread the needle from the side that has the last thread guide. This is always true. I have two machines that thread really differently around the tension discs. But the thread goes through the needle right below the last thread guide.

Most of the time, if the needle hole is facing front- it threads from the front, however ,If the needle hole faces to the right of the machine,as my feather weight does), then it is threaded from the right side .Hope this helps.

Oh my, no reason to feel stupid. I have more than 1 machine so I took a Post It note & wrote which direction the bobbin gets threaded & which way the needle gets threaded. My Juki machine is opposite of the others that I have so it saves me from forgetting & I just check my note & voila, no more problems.

Oh my goodness! That was an easy fix. I've done the same thing, as well as other not so smart things, so just move on and sew!

I have curved arrows drawn on my machines to show me which way the thread goes around the tension when winding bobbins. Like someone said, multiple machines.

That has happened to me many times. Know how you feel!! Glad others had had the same experience.
If there is a club for others who have had this experienced we are all friends with needle problems !!What fun!!
Mariah

First of all, we have all felt foolish at one time or another. It's best to just laugh it off and learn your lesson, which you did by fixing it so you can remember the next time it happens. As mama said to Forest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does," so remember that you are not stupid. However, having said that, it is fun to share our "DUH" moments so that we can all laugh at ourselves because we all know that we are not alone in makings silly mistakes.

Having done this a time or two (or ten) here is an easy way to remember which way you thread your needle:

There is a groove on your sewing machine needle, you can feel it with your finger nail. What ever side that groove is on, that is the side that your thread should go in. So no matter what machine you go to, even if you have never sewn on that machine before, you can always tell which way to put in the thread.

However, if you should forget which way your needle goes into the socket, when replacing the needle, you will need your sewing machine manual for that information. I've never looked, but I am hoping that it you put a mirror under the needle hole that you can see which side the flat part of the needle goes in, just in case you don't have your manual with you.

I usually keep my manual with the sewing machine at all times, even when I am transporting it to a class, just in case I need to know some information. There was a time when I didn't do this and found myself at a standstill trying to figure out something, when I could have been sewing. Unfortunately, I was in a class and because of this got way behind and didn't to fully participate in the class. Bummers -- a lesson I never forgot.

You're not stupid, you're experienced. I learn more from my boo-boos than my 1st time successes. No doubt you did too!:thumbup: And you might someday help someone who makes the same mistake and reassure them that they're experienced too. Happy sewing.

After 35 years of using my machine randomly for different projects & having taught myself how to use it from a very faded xerox manual (working fulltime & overtime, I only did household things like curtains, kids costumes) I learned:
that one should probably change the needle at some point;
that one should clean and oil the machine at some point;
that the extra lightbulb in my case should replace the burned-out one over the needle at some point.
I could go on, but for now I'll simply join the club and wait for my pin & jacket! (haha Peckish)

Oh, you poor thing! At least you figured out what the problem was. And now everything has had a tune up! It was just a supreme beings way of telling you to clean it!

. Thank you for the tip!

Another way to remember is there is a groove down the front of the needle shaft, called a scarf. When the needle is in correctly, that scarf will be centered and sometimes I dampen the thread end and then slide it down that groove and it will slip right into the needle eye. Two birds with one stone----needle is correctly positioned and also is threaded. Voila!

Oops. Sorry---Mac already said this. Duh, read first dummy.

I think we all have to stop and remember that we are all merely "human", none of us are perfect and never will be. The only "man" who ever walked this earth and was perfect was Jesus Christ himself, and they nailed him to a tree. We just have to learn to forgive ourselves for being human. The best we can do on this earth is strive for excellence (not perfection--we'll never each that exalted state). My Mom always told me to just do the best that I can do, and not worry about anything else; all we can do is try -- that's all a mule can do! Jeanette