Stiches are not straight

[Jmoranbrown]

Whenever I use a darker thread on a very light fabric, I notice my stitches are not quite straight. It almost looks like a slight zig-zag. It happens in every direction. However, when the thread color is close to the color of the fabric, it is not noticeable. When I insert my needles, I always put them in the way Dawn has instructed & I use the proper needles. I have tried adjusting my tension every way possible and it does not change the slight zig-zag. I have never hit or broken a needle. Any ideas???

Jan

[ffq-lar]

Hi Jan--

Actually this is how the stitches are formed. The bobbin thread wraps around the top thread so the spiral look is not a factor of tension. Try a shorter stitch length when you are using contrasting thread.

A while back someone had an obvious zig--straight stitches and then a jump. I believe it was a problem with the SR. Was that Nora? I'll see if I can find the old post. I know she had to replace a board.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Jan,

Check a couple of things...first make sure you don't have any "play" in your needle bar. Grab the bar where you insert the needle and see if you can wiggle it at all back and forth or left/right. It shouldn't move at all. If it has a little play, it can cause the stitch formation to be a bit off.

But my guess is that it has more to do with thread than anything. Try threading your three-hole guide just above the tension disk in a "weaving" motion instead of wrapping. (Go UP in the first hole, DOWN in the second hole, and UP in the third.)

Cotton threads or linty threads have this problem more often, but it can also happen with regular threads. The standard way to wrap the three hole guide by going "around and around" it causes the guide to "untwist" the thread as it enters the tension disks. (It does this because the thread is exiting off the top of the cone in a corkscrew manner, and this thread path straightens the thread out.)

But in some thread types, the standard thread path can actually overcompensate and untwist the thread too much, or even ADD twist to the thread if it exits the spool opposite of most threads. This twisting/untwisting action finally resolves itself only AFTER the thread finally forms the stitch in the fabric. That's where it can sometimes appear to lean one way or the other.

If you still have trouble, let us know and we can delve deeper!