Hey all. I'm at a loss, here. I've been using an old school Singer machine for about 6 months now. It has suddenly started to seriously skip stitches and I don't know where to go from here.
I've tried changing the needle (using both regular and ball point of varying sizes), changing the thread, changing the thread type (polyester and upholstery, and I use the same thread in the bobbin as well), cleaning the bobbin area, adjusting the tension, trying different fabrics; nothing works. If my thread doesn't suddenly snap then it just skips stitches, sometimes in very large gaps. It's driving me up the wall.
There's got to be something I'm missing.
I can't take it in to get serviced--I did that when I got it 6 months ago and the shop severely ripped me off. Unfortunately they're the only ones in the area that service old machines, so I'm pretty much out of luck there.
Any advice would be appreciated.
EDIT: Seems I've figured it out. When switching out the original needle, I THOUGHT I put the new ones in facing the same direction as the old one, but apparently I've had it backwards this whole time, with the flat side facing the wrong direction. I feel like a dummy, but hey, at least the problem has been solved. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, guys! I definitely realized I need to oil my machine more often than I have been (and in more locations than I realized!), so I'm pretty glad I got suggestions for that. :)
I've tried changing the needle (using both regular and ball point of varying sizes), changing the thread, changing the thread type (polyester and upholstery, and I use the same thread in the bobbin as well), cleaning the bobbin area, adjusting the tension, trying different fabrics; nothing works. If my thread doesn't suddenly snap then it just skips stitches, sometimes in very large gaps. It's driving me up the wall.
There's got to be something I'm missing.
I can't take it in to get serviced--I did that when I got it 6 months ago and the shop severely ripped me off. Unfortunately they're the only ones in the area that service old machines, so I'm pretty much out of luck there.
Any advice would be appreciated.
EDIT: Seems I've figured it out. When switching out the original needle, I THOUGHT I put the new ones in facing the same direction as the old one, but apparently I've had it backwards this whole time, with the flat side facing the wrong direction. I feel like a dummy, but hey, at least the problem has been solved. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, guys! I definitely realized I need to oil my machine more often than I have been (and in more locations than I realized!), so I'm pretty glad I got suggestions for that. :)