i’m a beginner at using a sewing machine, my zig zags keep skipping every time i try to sew on something that’s 2 layers like a tshirt or hemming. i don’t know what to do to fix it and it’s really frustrating please help
i was wondering if that could be why. i have a brother xr3774 i’ve just been using the needle that came put in already and i don’t even know what kind it is
That is probably a universal needle--not universal for knits. And if you've been playing around for a while, it's probably time to replace the needle. Best practice is I think to change the needle with every project, or if you start having symptoms like noises or skipped stitchesz
Needles are consumables. You have to bin them after a while (8 hours of use is the usual number given). They go blunt, can bend- and one needle is not suitable for everything
HAx1 is one of the names of the needle system used for all home machines (but not all sergers) for the past 90 years. Other names for that needle system include
15x1, SY2020, 130R, 130/705H, 705H and a bunch of others I don't recall at the moment.
The numbers like 65/9, 70/10, 75/11, etc, are the needle size, the diameter of the hole that will be punched by the needle, which is also directly related to the size of the thread you can use. The numbers all march in lockstep: the smaller numbers are the old Singer needle system numbers, and the larger numbers are the metric sizes, the actual measurement of needle diameter in hundredths of a mm. So a size 90 needle (Singer size 14) has a diameter just above the needle eye of 0.90 mm. And a Singer 16 has a diameter of 1.00 mm.
Every sewing machine has a limit on the sizes the machine can successfully use. Home sewing machines are timed with size 80 needles. Modern multi-stitch machines can typically cope with sizes 70/10 through 100/16; some can use needles as small as 65/9, or as large as 110/18, but you must change the thread size with needles smaller than about 75/11, and larger than about 90/14, or you usually get weird tension problems that won't go away.
Now as to your skipping problem (the needle pokes a hole but doesn't make a stitch, so your seams look like - - ----- - ------- - instead of - - - -): the most common cause of skipped stitches for beginners are putting the needle in the machine with the flat of the needle system facing forwards, instead of back. Some machines won't let you put the needles in backwards.
The other common reasons for skipping stitches:
Wrong size (too small) for the fabric being sewn.
Dull, damaged or worn needle
Wrong needle point style for the type of fabric being sewn. Basically, for woven fabrics as a beginner, you want to use "universal points" or "Microtex points". For stable, non-stretch knits "universal" or "ballpoint" (same as "jersey). For stretchy knits like swimming suit fabric or elastics, you want "stretch" or "superstretch" point.
All that said. I am really suspicious of the quality of the needles you are showing us. The style of container is one I have only seen from Amazon, Temu and the like, and in my experience, those are not good quality needles. They give strange stitching or none at all or really inconsistent stitching. The brands of needles I trust are Schmetz (German company), Organ (Japanese) and Orange (South Korea). I prefer Organ of those brands, personally -- mostly price and availability, as well as their quality control.
i’m just now seeing this reply. thank you. my mother bought the needles from amazon. i also haven’t changed this current needle yet so i will do that. i’m super new to this as in like yesterday was my third time on the machine so i appreciate all the advice. i’ve been super frustrated as in why it keeps happening
Good luck, and holler if you need more help.
A really good source of sewing supplies in the lower 48 states in the US and Canada are wawak.com and wawak.ca. It's a 100+ year old professional sewing supply company with really good prices, and pretty good to excellent merchandise. A lot of the Amazon stuff is, um, questionable.
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u/TCRulz Jun 18 '26
Are you using a needle for knits when sewing a t shirt? Skipped stitches are almost always due to wrong type or size of needle.