Fleece threw tension off?
 

Help! I recently had my 1979 kenmore fixed by an OSMG, and the straight stitches were perfect and I pieced a quilt on it. THEN, I sewed three fleece garments on it, and now my tension is off... It looks like my bobbin tension needs tightening, but I don't think I know how to do it (it's a horizontal bobbin). I tried lowering my top tension but that didn't help. Here's a picture of the top...can sewing with fleece throw the tension off?? And... when I rip out the stitches - it's almost like pulling chain stitches -- seem as though the stitching is not tight. Anyone know what's going on?
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I don't know if it's the fleece or not but it does look like the bobbin tension needs tightened. I'm not sure how to do that on your Kenmore. Is your bobbin threaded correctly? I know I'm guilty of occasionally forgetting to put the thread thru the little slot where the bobbin drops in on my Singer.
Rodney

Could your bobbin area need some cleaning ..........fuzzies from the fleece material?

If you post a photo of the bobbin area, I should be able to give you an idea of how to check and adjust the tension. I'm thinking it's more that there's some lint holding the tension spring too far away from the body of the bobbin case though.

Cleaning the machine of all the lint would be a good start then let Tammi tell you how to adjust anything that needs to be adjusted.

when I sew with fleece my bobbin area gets alot of feece lint in it. I have to clean quite often.

Okay...I'll clean the area, and then let you know if it sews better...thanks for your comments.

I'd agree that your problem is fuzzies from the fleece that are where they shouldn't be - and that can include under the spring part of the bobbin case. I've actually had that happen many times with my Viking (main machine) where I've had to lift it up just enough to blow it out good - and then it works fine. That is the very first thing I check when all of a sudden my bobbin tension is way too loose.

Before you adjust your bobbin tension , try changing needles.A dull needle can cause these problems,also.also ,if thread isn't wound properly on bobbin, can cause this also. Hope this helps.

were you using a ball point needle?

I use dental floss to clean out lint in the bobbin case. Also agree to change the needle and make sure your bobbin thread isn't too loose.

Fleece will do that on many machines. I've often heard of it.

Is theneedle in right? I had this happend to me and I put the needle in backwards.

All's well that ends well...thank you for your suggestions and offers to help...I've been away from the sewing machine for over a week, and decided to tackle the problem a couple of days ago... Surprisingly, there was not a lot of lint to clean out, so yesterday, I decided to take the plunge... I looked at the manual and saw where I could take out the bobbin case...and I hoed ere would be more lint there. So, I unscrewed one screw, and almost lost it!! Then, I got cold feet, and tried to screw that one screw back in... And I'm not sure I was successful... So...rather than "mess up" further, I thought to go back to the OSMG that had fixed my machine back in November 2013... Hoping they would not charge me too much since the machine had just been in the shop... I was so excited... THe OSMG adjusted my tension for free! And, now I know exactly where the screw is, to adjust the bobbin tension, if it needs it. But, honestly, in over 50 years of sewing, I have never once had to adjust my bobbin tension...so I doubt I'll need to do it another time. But, the machine is fixed, and I can have my pretty straight stitches again on that machine! Thanks again for your willingness to help a scaredy cat!

Ellietow,

Don't be a "scaredy cat" when it comes to machine adjustments and maintenance. Bobbin case and top tension adjustments are covered in most of the owners manuals I have. It's nothing complex or difficult.
And it's easy to do. The hardest thing is getting the bobbin case out of the machine and cleaning all the lint and fuzz out of it.

Every, well most, machine I have bought has has to have the tensions adjusted. Most were so tight I wondered if they were using micro sized thread. I have a habit of checking them with size 50 thread and setting them with that.
Once done they seem to work great with most everything else.

So, next time, don't fret, just read the manual ( if you have it ) put on your magnifying glasses and do it.

Joe