path49

Make sure the feed dogs are perfectly straight in the throat plate slots. And then make sure that the presser foot is sitting straight on the feed dogs. If they're not, loosen the presser foot bar slightly...& turn it til it's straight. The only other thing it could be is that the presser foot is worn pretty heavily on one side or the other...or that the feed dog teeth are worn much worse on one side than the other. Good news is that it's all fixable!

J Miller

Pat,

I know how to adjust the presser foot shaft so that's not a problem, but how do you adjust the feed dogs if they are not square with the feed dog slots?

I guess you could reorient the needle plate on some machines, but on those you can't how do you do the adjustment?

Joe

path49

If you loosen the feed dogs, there may be a little wiggle room there. And you usually can move the throat plate slightly. To be honest, I've never had a machine that was so far off that it needed more than that.

There's always the possibility that somehow the feed dogs got bent...wouldn't be easy to do but, stranger things have happened! I think I'd try a different presser foot first. Even if it doesn't appear to be worn on one side, it could still have a slight twist to it. If that isn't it & the feed dogs can't be adjusted, I'd try new feed dogs.

And maybe it's just a machine that never was right straight from the factory....

Muv

Puckering can be caused by the stitch length being too long on fine material. Sometimes all you need to do is shorten the stitch length.

Charlee

And once again I've learned something "new to me" from you Muv!! Thanks! I didn't realize long stitches could cause puckering!

path49

Muv's 100% correct! Shorter stitches put more thread in the seam....more thread won't "gather" the fabric as much as a shorter length of thread.

It also helps to wind a bobbin slowly...especially with poly thread. Winding it at full speed can stretch synthetic thread...then it relaxes (shortens!) as it's sewn...& puckers the fabric. Cotton threads don't stretch as much but it's still a good idea not to wind your bobbin at full speed.

redbugsullivan

These recommendations makes sense. Once the VS was cleaned out the pucker got better. I'm going to switch feet tonight and see if it makes a difference with keeping the stitching straight. Currently I'm using a polycotton blend thread. I learned to keep the bobbins wound with care years ago. VS or round, bobbins work best when the thread is consistently wound with light pressure.