miriam

What I like least about Singer Featherweight is having to take that bobbin area apart every time my 89 year old Mom jams hers up and tries to fix it herself. Try oil and the hemostats first to get the thread out. Take it apart if necessary. There are plenty of tutorials how to do that.... Start a new thread about your thread jam and someone will help you figure it out... better still there is a little box at the top of this very screen that says search - see it - it's on the upper right - type in 'thread jam' and you might find an existing thread that tells how to fix/unjam your mess with out waiting for someone to reply...

BUT the best thing you can do is prevent thread jams in the first place and this is true of your vintage machines as well as a Featherweight or Singer 301:

Make sure the bobbin and top thread are not engaged in the bobbin hook when you start, stop, or move your fabric around by turning the balance wheel toward you and making sure the thread take up lever is all the way to the top.

Even if the needle is up all the way there can still be thread caught around the bobbin hook. The top thread needs to make it's loop ALL the way around the bobbin or it will be caught in the hook and that is what makes it jam. See that the needle thread is pulled straight back with out crossing or looping in the needle area (I repeat: thread take up lever all the way up)

This is how it should NOT look:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]528713[/ATTACH]
The thread should be separated. Bobbin thread out the bobbin hole and top thread out the needle - not crossing and not coming out of the hole.

In my picture, you will notice that the needle IS up but the top thread is still in the hook - see needle hole.... Can you see that the take up lever is NOT all the way to the top? I tried to draw arrows but the computer didn't like it... I crashed the paint program.... I do not give computer advice ever... never ever. turn it on. if it works you are ok.

Only turn the balance wheel toward you turning it the other way can make thread jam....

Keep your tension well adjusted so you don't get big loops on the under side.

Make sure the long thread tails - bobbin thread especially never get in the way and go down into the bobbin area - clip after a few stitches and discard the thread tails. Some people chain a leader or ender piece at the beginning and end of each project to prevent tails and keeps the jams from happening. That said you still have to make sure the take up lever is up, the top and bobbin thread aren't crossed or it will still jam as soon as you start to sew even with a leader or ender piece.

NEVER LET A SEWING MACHINE KNOW YOU ARE IN A HURRY.....

You should be able to prevent a lot of thread jams. If you still have a lot of trouble I would recommend a refurbished Singer 15 or a 15 clone, while heavy and not as cute, those rarely jam, if they do they are easy to un-jam and they make a quality stitch. There are hundreds of other brands and type machines that don't jam as easy as a Featherweight or a Singer 301 and they may be better suited to you.

Sewnoma

All very good advice!!

I think my first machine was a little prone to jams too, which caused some frustration but also built in a lot of these things you've listed as habits with me and now I almost never get jams on any machine.

When I'm removing work from under the needle I very gently pull and I can feel if it's still hooked on that last stitch. If it is I just rotate the wheel towards me until it lets go and I go just a scootch past that. I can see the last stitch sort of tighten up and look more "normal" when it releases that last loop too. Then I know I'm safe to pull a length of thread out and snip my work off.

I am also in the habit of dropping my presser foot back down on top of the threads before I snip. That keeps them from rebounding or falling down into the bobbin area, and keeps them neatly held to the left where I can sort of pin them down to the bed of the machine with my pinkie finger on my left hand as I'm placing the next bit of fabric under the needle. This way I always know where my tails are and they are kept to the side and are much less likely to create a nest.

barny

Thanks Miriam. I'm gonna quit trying to tell someone how to do something. Every time I do I mess up. I fix my machines all of the time, but not able to tell someone else. Anyhow, thank you for 'splaining it. LOL

elnan

Well done, well said. I sometimes help with 4H sewing projects. No matter what machine, I tell them to hold the thread tails behind the presser foot when starting a seam, and there will always be at least one person with a fancy newer machine who tells them it is not necessary. Just as I sit down and settle in there is a call for me to see why a machine is locked up tight. The only thing I would add to Miriam's advice is "Don't try to use brute force to pull the project with the thread jam out of the machine. A gentle rocking back and forth as you keep tension on an end of the thread often helps. Gentle rocking does not mean take another stitch."

Rodney

Does thread jam go well on toast?
Rodney

quilt938

well you ARE toast with a thread jam so I guess it does! I'm at work and wishing I were home playing with one of my machines!

miriam

There is nothing worse than a thread jam on an industrial sewing machine. I learned a lot about repairs just from making thread jam.... I suppose if I bought one of those high end plastic wonder computer sewing machines it would never make thread jam... Well if you spend a boat load of money it shouldn't right?

ArchaicArcane

I completely agree! Some of the machines too (Pfaffs are a notable one) if you're rough pulling the work and nest out, you can bend/mis-adjust the retaining finger bracket and then it's prone to "inexplicable" nests because the thread can't clear the bracket when making a revolution. That's probably most true for post 80s machines of theirs but there are other brands that use a similar set up.

Oh yeah! Thread jam at warp speed!

I also find when turning the handwheel up to the top of the stroke means that the thread is less likely to yank out of the needle causing you to sew for several inches without thread. Now if I could just remember that consistently. I teach it but I can't remember it when I sew on my own.

High end machines still make thread jams. If the tension is set to something in particular for a particular stitch it's -less- likely but if it's mis-threaded or the thread slips out of somewhere - take up lever on some of the early Pfaff QE 4.0s for instance, or out of the tensioner) - there's still a mess and on top of it, the high end machines will b*tch at you until you make it just to their liking. I find myself sometimes when servicing one of the new machines muttering "shut up shut up shut UP!" with all the dings and messages and other things. Maybe I like to put my presser foot lever down after I thread through the tension disks for better clearance on the needle and to make sure the thread stays in place. What's it to you!?!? I also like to put my seatbelt on after I start the car!

miriam

Tammi, I was being sarcastic about the plastic wonders... I know they can jam same as anything else. Most problems with machines are user error of some sort. I thought about making this whole thread sarcastic (I leave that for CD to rewrite or make into a poem) and it would have been very easy but I realize there are beginner sewing machine operators that really do need some tips. It IS hard to remember everything - I still make thread nests. Mom REALLY makes thread nests. I don't know if chewing gum would help with concentration or make it worse... maybe chocolate? And yes some machines need longer tail thread than others - you are right leave enough tail or give the machine a turn while holding on to the tails before putting fabric in. I was hoping other people would chime in with things I forgot.

SunlitenSmiles

Thinking back...my 301A has never had a thread jam ... never, ever... graduation present 1957, sews everyday.
However the Bernina 1630 and the Bernette have had thread jams but never so much that I had to take anything apart...they are ZZ and that is usually the mode they are in when they jam. I have a question about this..why would anyone turn the wheel backwards???? the wheel always turns towards you...written in stone !