singer athena 2000
 

Can I fmq on this machine? Having trouble with needle shank moving while fmq. What am I doing wrong?

The actual needle itself moves?

Is your stitch setting set for a zig zag stitch?

How do you lower the feed dogs on the Athena 2000?

You can't, but it comes with a needle plate that is raises the sewing surface higher than the feed dogs. It's similar in function to the plates that cover up the feed dogs on other machines.

Also, it's not necessary to lower feed dogs (or raise/cover the plate) to FMQ. Some people don't do it even if they can lower them.
Just set your stitch length to 0.

http://www.daystyledesigns.com/doiha...myfeeddogs.htm - Leah Day doesn't, and she's pretty well respected in the FMQ arena.

True, but the Athena 2000 has those rubber feed dogs, so I don't know how they might hold up.

:shock: I totally forgot about those. It's hard to say what they would do. The ones I usually come across are fairly smooth. The machine does come with FME instructions if memory serves... so they should have considered that sort of abrasion ...