Needle Default Position
 

My next question for all you wonderfully helpful quilting friends is..... Where is your needle default position, and what brand of machine? I noticed my DD's machine defaults to the left?????

Dead center on my Pfaff and on my Viking.

should be in the center. i have a Janome MC4800 and even my Singer I've had for 30 yrs is center.

One of the reasons why I love my Brother 1500 and use it instead of my Brother SE270D - it is mechanical and does not default when I turn it on. I hate that feature.

FYI ... some of the machines you can switch the default position.

The factory default in my machine did not give me a 1/4" seam when using my 1/4" foot. I changed the default so that everytime I turn the machine on, it's in that position. So now the default is off centre. My other machine allows me to move the needle, but I cannot change the default, so if I change the needle position, I need to remember to put it in the right place when I turn it on ........... and yes, that gets forgotten at the worse times that it could and then I have to spend time with my froggy!

thank goodness...both of my machines are manual!

I have a Babylock Decorator's Choice. Default is to the left & cannot be changed. It's a pain--I've broken needles on my 1/4" foot because I forgot to move the needle before starting to sew. :(

All my machine that have that feature it is in the middle.

4 of my machines the needle stays dead center. My Brother SQ9000 moves to the left when I turn it on.
Took a while to get used to, I have bent a few needles because of this....LOL

My Baby Lock defaults to left and I've experienced a broken needle when I first got it earlier this month. It doesn't make sense to me, but I've gotten used to changing it after I turn it on.

My Brother PC-420 defaults to the left. When using my 1/4" piecing foot, I need the needle to be in the center. This has resulted in a few broken needles when I have turned the machine off for the day, and turned it back on the next day and forgot to reset the needle position. Now I am good about removing the foot from my machine when done for the day. Having to put the foot back on at the beginning of a new day reminds me to move the needle over.

One thing I hated about the Babylocks is that even if you move the needle to the center, all the stitch plate markings are off because the default is to the left. I understand that the newer models have changed the position to center, but I have not actually witnessed it. It made the difference between buying a Janome or a Babylock for a machine to drag back and forth to classes.

My Baby Lock defaults dead center.

I have a Brother CS6000i and if you hold the + sign while turning it on, it will set the default position permanently to the center (or until you manually do this again to change it back to the left). I was changing it to center EVERY time I turned it on until I read my manual and discovered I could change the default position from left to center where I need it to be every time. Check your manual -- if you have an electronic machine you can probably easily change the default position!

Check your manual -- if you have an electronic machine you can probably easily change the default position![/QUOTE]

The default on my Babylock cannot be changed. I asked the sewing machine doctor to change it for me. He tried, but my machine is old enough that it doesn't have the option of center needle dafault.

Gramajo has a very important point -- most likely only the newer electronic/computerized machines will have the ability to do this. I wonder if they had so many requests for the center needle default position that they started making the newer machines with this ability? It's possible on mine (Brother XR1300 which is the Costco version of the CS6000i without embroidery/monogramming feature), so it might be worth it to check your manual if your machine is fairly new.

My Bernina and Brother both default to the center. I wonder why other machines have needles that default off center? Seems a bit odd that machines would come up with an off center setting when the most common stitch is straight stitch and often done with the needle in the center position.

Depends on my machine, my sq[9050 is the left, my espire was the center, and my dreamweaver is the center, and my xl-3500i is mechanical so it was wherever the hell I left it, center right left, had no default, all machines are brothers except for the espire which is made by brother and has babylock's name on it. I actually hate that it is left on my sq-9050 because i forget to change it and my needle hits the 1/4" presser foot.

All three of my Babylock default to the center needle position.....and I am able to change that if I wish.

FYI, go to your settings, you can change the default setting to the center. Or you can just move the needle using your width control to where you want it and then save it in that spot. It will always be there.

Now I really feel like a do do bird. Not sure what the "default" was exactly but as I read I realize that I have issues with it too. I have a Janome MC4000. Love it! When I turn on the machine, the needle does a little dance and settles itself "in the middle" position. But it is not actually the middle according several of the presser feet and to the needle threader. I find that if I move the position one to the right it is right on. But as others have said I sometimes forget to set it. It doesn't not hit the foot. If I move the needle on position to the right, I get a scant 1/4 in. I also move it when using the SID foot which is actually the edge stitcher foot.

Please see post #15. Default position can not be changed and I can not move the needle and save it in any other position. This is an older machine and doesn't have the capabilities many of you have on your new machines.

should be in the center

Dead center ---- but if I want to do 1/4" seams, I have to move it to the right quite a ways. Janome Jem

My machine defaults to the center. I am not sure about my viking.

You need a plate that has more than a single hole and then you can use other stitches. Your machine may have come with two different plates, I hope.

Ok, I was just trying to help you. I have been teaching this machine for years. It used to be called the espire (around 14 years ago),( Babylock later came out with a new espire that then changed to the symphony.) then it came out as the decorators choice, now it is called the elizabeth. Sure there have been a few tweeks here and there, but basicly the same. I also teach quilting, I show weekly customers that have the decorators choice how to do this very thing.

Let's just go with "it can't be done." Sorry for the post. Best of luck to you.

I've had my Baby Lock less than a month, it is electronic and the needle defaults to left. I've read through the manual and there are no instructions or information on changing the default. I'll contact the dealer later today to see if it's possible to change and report back.

All of the machines i have used have had default in the center,

I have the quilters choice by babylock, has taken me years to slow down on my needles breaking, turn machine on and hit button to get the needle in the center. This is an issue with my 1/4 inch foot, which has no hole on the left side, but only in the center. Try as I do, I still break needles from time to time because of this. Love my machine, though. :)

My Babylock default position is in the center. When I use my 1/4 inch foot with guide, I still bump the needle to the right to 4.6 (4.0 is center) to give me the "scant" 1/4 inch seam. It doesn't hit the single hole in the foot in that position.