My Tips on Machine Maintenance and Other Basics

If you ask a quilter what their most important quilting tool is, I’m willing to bet they will say “my sewing machine!”. For that reason, it’s a good idea to keep in in the best shape possible so you can keep on quilting. So this week, I will share my tips on keeping your machine humming along and some other related tips So let’s get started!

Basic Maintenance:

Keeping this in top running order is probably the most important thing in my opinion. Here’s my top tips:

• Annual checkup: This is something that will keep your machine running for years. The quilt shop that services your machine can get into places you can’t (and shouldn’t) for cleaning and they will check for any other areas of concern.
• Periodic Oiling & Cleaning: This is something you can do. The areas you need to concentrate on are under the throat plate (left, below), around the area where the foot attaches, and the bobbin compartment (right, below).

Sweeping out these areas each time you replace a bobbin will keep excess lint from accumulating and getting pushed deeper into the machine. Use the brush that came with your machine or a small make-up brush.

This is also a good time to oil the areas of your machine recommended by the manufacturer. It’s a good idea to read the manual that came with your machine to find out exactly what they recommend when it comes to oiling. If you don’t have a manual, chat with the maintenance person at the quilt shop that maintains your machine. They should be able to instruct you. Take notes!

Additional Basic tips:

• Treat your Machine Right: During the sewing and quilting process, treat your machine right by keeping the needles fresh so they don’t break. Sometimes a broken needle can fall through the throat plate and imbed itself inside the machine… then it’s time for a visit to the repair shop.
• You can also avoid broken needles by not sewing over pins, even if they are very lightweight pins. I did this once and the timing of my machine was thrown off. Then I needed, you guessed it, a visit to the repair shop.

Tension Tips:

The wrong tension in either your bobbin or you top thread can cause all kinds of things to go wrong when you are piecing. Here’s a few tips.

Tip #1: Before starting a project. Grab a few scrap pieces of fabric and sew a seam. If the fabric is looping up on the underside, the top thread tension is too loose. If you see the bobbin thread on the top piece of fabric or your thread breaks, your top tension is most likely too tight. Adjust the tension and keep sewing test seams until you are satisfied with the results. Be sure to use the same weight of thread and the same type of fabric for your testing as you will be using for your project.

Tip #2: When unthreading your machine, do not snip and pull the thread out from the top.

The thread runs through your machine going down towards the needle, so pulling it out from the top through the tension disc (below, left photo) can throw off the tension.

Instead, snip the thread up top and then pull the thread down and out from the needle area (below, right photo). This keeps the thread going in the direction it’s meant to and should not effect tension.

Machine Needles & Tips:

These needles have a shank, which is the fatter area on the needle, that hand sewing needles do not have. The shank is the part clamped by the sewing machine’s needle holder. It tapers down to an eye at the end. Another big difference from a hand needle is this needle has a groove that “hugs” the thread as the needle passes into the fabric you are stitching.

Machine needles come in different sizes for different weights of fabric. You’ll see a number like this on the package: 80/12. The numbers represent European (larger number) and American sizing. Needles with lower numbers (9-12) are for lighter and medium weight fabrics and needles with higher numbers (14-18) are for heavier weight fabrics. Needles for standard stitching have a slightly rounded end and are considered universal. There are also quilting needles for machine quilting that have a delicate, slightly sharper point than the universal to go through the three layers of a quilt sandwich.

Sewing Machine Needle Tips:

Tip #1: A good rule of thumb is to change the needle after you finish piecing a large project or a few smaller projects like table runners. If you sew with a needle that should be changed, you can cause damage to your fabric. A dull or damaged needle can snag fabric, make a hole, and also break your thread. If you hear a “punching” sound or see snags as you stitch, it’s definitely time to change the needed.

Tip #2: If you have not used up the needle but need to change it to do something else, put the partially used needle back in the case with the flat part of the shaft facing up so you remember that you used it.

Tip #3: This one is a tip just for fun … if you do not have a built in needle threader on your machine, place a bright piece of paper behind the needle when threading it. This will help you to see the eye of the needle better.

Notice in the first photo above, it’s hard to see the needle’s eye but then when I placed the bright paper behind it, the eye becomes more visible for easier threading. I used a neon colored post-it note.

That’s it for this week. Next week, I will cover setting up a 1/4″ seam guide since we all know how important a 1/4″ seam is in quilting. I will also have additional stitching tips I think you’ll find helpful.

Leave a comment or ask a questions and I will enter you in a drawing for my pattern Old Glory Garden, just in time to make for summer display.

You will have time to enter this drawing on this post and next week’s as well. The drawing will be on Monday, May 19th. ***We have a winner! Congrats, Debi!***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne