Featherweight pulling fabric to the left
 

I use my Singer Featherweight for quilt piecing. It seems to constantly pull fabric to the left. I have a 1/4 inch seam guide mounted to the bed of the machine. I notice that when I am stitching and the fabric begins to feed under the presser foot it begins to shift to the left. By the time the fabric is even with the needle, it has almost disappeared under the presser foot unless I grab the right edge of the fabric with a stiletto to keep the edge of the fabric against the 1/4 inch seam guide.


Any thoughts or ideas on a solution for this?

What foot are you using? I have a couple of 1/4 inch feet that I got for my FW but find I have better results using the one that came with the machine.

Very possibly the presser foot is out of alignment with the feed dogs.

Check to make sure the foot fits the shaft correctly, some aftermarket feet do not fit Singer shafts properly.

Then turn the hand wheel till the feed dogs are all the way up.
Lower the presser foot.
Sight down both sides of the foot and the dogs, they should be exactly parallel with each other.

When they are out of alignment you will get the pulling and twisting like you have.

They aren't too hard to adjust, but diagnosis is first.

Joe

haha, I'm a quick study Joe! When I saw the title of this post I knew that was going to be your answer. :)
I am now going to check all of mine as I use them!

My Columbus treadle likes to pull the bottom fabric to the right at the end of a seam. I have to hold it with a stiletto to keep it in line. I'm sewing stack and wacks with 60º points, so there is very little room for error. And I'm not really at home yet with my treadle, and need my right hand to get it going.

Ummm, what is a stack and whack? That's a couple terms I've never heard before.

Regarding your treadle; oil everything that moves, machine and treadle. Make sure it's all clean, no thread binding anything that moves. The easier a treadle moves the easier it is to control it. Make sure the belt is just right, not too tight, not too loose.

Then practice with it piecing a quilt or something similar. When I do quilts on mine eventually I get the feel of the foot pedal vs the machine. And then I can stop and start it without using my hand. Most of the time I can get it going the right direction too. :)


Joe

Now that's really cute! Most of the time! Well, I am beginning to do that once in a while, so maybe I'll get there too.

To do a stack 'n'whack, you find eight repeats of a large colorful print, cut the repeats apart and stack them on top of each other. Then we put pins all over so that each print is exactly over the other ones. Each flower or pattern is in the same place on each layer. Then we cut that into strips and the strips into diamonds. The diamonds are put together in a circle, like a kaleidoscope. They sure are beautiful. It's hard to believe that all these stars came from the same fabric.

Now about my Columbus Sewing Machine: I have a number I found under the shuttle plate, but when I tried to Google that, all I found was sewing machine stores in Columbus Ohio. I had never heard of Columbus sewing machines before. Where should I look to find out something about them and how old mine is?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I have been trying today to find the "sweet spot" to stop the treadle so that I can start it again in the right direction. I found out it is NOT at the very beginning or ending of a stroke. Then it won't go anywhere without a push from my hand. But the best place to stop is right after my heel hits the bottom, on its way up. Then when I start again, my foot goes forward and the flywheel is going in the right direction. I'm learning. I sewed for almost 15 minutes tonight without touching the flywheel. I started out with 168 pieces of fabric this afternoon. Now I have it down to 28, and it needs to go down to 7, but I have some pressing to do next, and it's bedtime.

This machine is quite clean. I actually had it serviced by a Mennonite sewing center. It runs very easily and quietly, and it looks nice, too. The decals are almost perfect. The cabinet could use some work, but the machine works well like it is.

OK. I pulled out the featherweight and took this picture. The presser foot does appear to be parallel with the feed dogs but the feed dogs extend past the foot on the right hand side. This is the foot that came with the machine when I bought it.

Is this correct or is there some adjustment that I need to do?

If the foot is parallel to the feed dogs then I'm not sure what to say.

I also just ran into such a situation. My blue Dressmaker clone likes to twist the fabric too. Especially the bottom piece in a sandwitch. I've adjusted the foot / dog alignment till I'm as blue in the face as the machine is with no success. I've also switched feet and it didn't change anything.
So there must be another cause I've yet to discover.

I see a lot of old oil on your presser foot and shaft, try cleaning the foot and shaft till they are spotless and try again. I'm not sure that will change anything, but it can't hurt.

You might lower the feed dogs and then lower the foot to see if it sits flat on the needle plate. That might show something.

Yeah, I'm grabbing at straws.

Joe