Singer 6268
 

I am helping a friend with her Singer 6268. All of the stitches are good with the exception of the zig zag. The zig zag stitich puckers the fabric in the middle of the stitch, sort of causing a small ridge. Can anyone help me with this problem?

She can try loosening the tension just a bit, but often you need to use a stabilizer with a zigzag stitch. What type fabric is she sewing on?

Sewing machine repair people use the zigzag stitch as a test of the tension balance. If there is anything wrong in the tension settings, it will show up in the zigzag stitch. I would start by loosening the upper tension and trying again. If that is not enough, you may have to start adjusting the bobbin tension.

Edit: If the stitch length is short, you typically need a stabilizer as PaperPrincess mentioned to keep the fabric from "tunneling". However, it shouldn't be necessary if you are just doing a zigzag with average or long stitch length on quilting weight fabric.

Thank you both so much, PaperPrincess and Prism 99. We adjusted the tension, and it works great. Thanks for your help.