Tension issues
 

I have a friend in the Homestead area of Florida that has a Singer machine that is about 10 years old. When she threads it the thread won't go between the tension disks and as a result gets lots of eyelashes in the bobbin thread.

Has anyone had this problem before? If so how did you resolve it?

Anyone in the Homestead area of Florida know of a good sewing machine repair person?

Thanks

If she had absolutely no tension on top she would be having more problems than eyelashing on the bobbin side. How does the machine sew for piecing and not FMQ? If it is sewing fine for piecing she has good tension. BTW most machines have no upper tension when the presser foot is raised and we usually thread our machines the presser foot is up.

If the machine's tension is ok when piecing then the problem of eyelashing can be addressed by decreasing bobbin tension, or increasing upper tension and slowing down for curves.

I would loosen the upper tension all the way, then use ***unwaxed*** dental floss to try to clean out any lint that may be caught between the tension discs. This is assuming she can reach the tension discs. Not sure if that is possible depending on what model of Singer machine she has.

Edit: And presser foot should be in the up position when doing this so that the discs are not engaged.

When threading the machine, she needs to make sure that the presser foot is in the up position when seating the thread. She may have tried to thread the machine with the presser foot down, which can prevent the thread from seating properly.

When was the last time she had it in for service?? It is good depending on how much you sew to have it serviced no longer than every 2 years.