I'm making flannel stars and sewing together small pieces of flannel fabric stitching from corner to corner. The problem I'm having is that the needle pushes the fabric down into the throat hole, gumming up the works and breaking the thread. I'm using a size 80/12 universal needle (new) and cotton thread. Is there a way to prevent this from happening? And why is it happening? It seems to be a problem with the flannel, because I can't recall this happening with regular fabric. Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe there's some technique I'm unaware of?

Have you ever sewn with a leader fabric

here is a video to watch and I use it all the time now when sewing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTBPjlm1_44

A straight stitch plate also works wonders, so I hear.

Do you have a center-hole plate for your machine? It won't allow the fabric to be sucked in (yes, my machine does the same - even with a leader to start). My mother-in-law said that she uses wax paper as a leader and rips it off later. I have not tried that.

Your needle might be to thick and the point might be too round???? (guessing here).

It's frustrating for sure.

Try the leader fabric. Or sometimes I start the fabric in about a stitch or two.

if the pieces are really small, try a tear-away interfacing.

You can use paper, or used dryer sheets, coffee filters or any tear away interfacing to start the seam with. Just tear it away when done.

Leader fabric.

leader and a sharp needle instead of universal

sharp needle and start down farther if you can

I prefer sharp needles and if it's the lightweight, floppy kind of flannel, you might want to hit it with some starch or sizing. It tries to crawl away from the needle and the edges try to slip off kilter. I love working with flannel but you definitely have to teach the lightwieight ones who's boss!--LOL.

I heavily starch flannel before cutting it to prevent this type of problem. Spray starching might help.

Try the leader, and make sure that it is butted up against your pieces. You could also sew circles in the center of your blocks if no of the other suggestions work for you :D

Thanks. Sounds like leaders are the answer. I thought that might be what you would say. I just wondered if there was something else I might be missing. A sharp needle definitely helps. Fortunately, I'm all done with those stars now. I just finished the last one. I'll post pictures soon.

I was told by my dealer I needed a straight stitch plate.

Yup, that's what's been suggested I "might" need in the future. Though it's close to $50 for my Bernina... But, it's supposed to prevent the eating of fabric and create better stitching for the embroidery unit and straight stitches.

I'll look into the straight stitch plate. Thanks.

Try using a sharp instead of a universal. Hopefully, that will help some.

Thanks. Yes, I'm going to try that. Also, I got the straight stitch plate for my sewing machine today. I'll see if that solves the problem.

Good luck! I know how frustrating a problem like that can be, in spite of all you can do to fix it.

yes, they work well