Threading different machines
 

Hello, I have a question. I am teaching a group of young ladies from my church how to sew on Saturday and we are borrowing machines from different people. My concern is threading all the different machines. I know that most modern Singers and Brothers will thread front to back, but is there a rule of thumb concerning other brands and/or older models, like Sew Mor, Kenmore, etc...? I hope this is clear. Thank you for your input.

My hat is off to you! I'm sure that at least one of those young ladies will have a smart phone. You can find almost any sewing machine online. If you have a tablet, I would bring that so you have a bit larger screen.

Great idea. I for sure will bring my kindle.

There is a "rule of thumb" and if I remember correctly it is...the needle threads opposite the flat side. For example my Singer needle goes in flat side to the left so my thread goes in from the right. My DD's machine needle is flat side to the back so her thread goes in from the front. Does that makes sense?

My Janome uses only a round needle.... :rolleyes:

I think Paper Princess has a great idea. Take something with internet access so someone can look it up online.

If the machine needle is threaded wrong it won't sew a stitch. So you know immediately to change it. It will be good for the beginners to see what happens if the needle is threaded wrong. I have seen a lot of beginner sewers give up because of frustrating machines.

The needle is threaded so the hook can grab the thread on the "loose" end. If threaded backwards, the hook will either not be able to grab the thread, or the thread will break or jam up in the bobbin case.

However most people don't know how to look and see which side of the needle the hook is aligning with.

And most often, needles are put in so the scarf of the needle is towards the hook also, so if the needle is put in properly, that is one way to tell which way the thread should go (unless you have a machine that takes a needle without a scarf).

oh my goodness, borrow the manuals too!!

I've never seen a machine where the thread would go into the needle from the back to the front, so if the needle is set with the eye facing forward, I think you're safe threading the needle from front to back.

For needles set with the eye facing to the side, the thread will most often go into the needle in the direction opposite of where the last thread guide put it. So if in threading through the final thread guide you swing the thread from right to left, you're probably going to thread the needle from left to right.

Those are the two "rules of thumb" I always use for threading an unfamiliar machine. :) As others have said, you'll know pretty quickly if it was wrong, and then you can either just try it the other way, or look it up.

^^^^^^^^^ What she said!