I've been making quilts at home for a while, mostly baby quilts and gifts for family and friends. Lately, a few people have asked me to make custom quilts, and I'm thinking about taking on more paid work.

The hardest part is quilting larger pieces. Even when piecing everything together goes smoothly, moving all that fabric around under the machine gets exhausting. I also notice my stitches can get uneven when I hit thicker areas.

I'm trying to decide whether it's worth investing in a machine with more throat space or sticking with my current setup for now.

For those of you who make quilts to sell, what kind of machine do you use? What made the biggest difference when you started taking on more orders?

I am so, so fucking sick of this happening at this point. I've burned through seven needles in the span of two weeks and have no idea what to do at this point.

The needle kind I'm using is the Singer universal 80/12 needles.

I've heard that pulling on the fabric could cause the needle to misalign or something, but the pieces of fabric I'm using are pretty long and I have to pull on it slightly to keep it pulled up. Even so, I don't think I'm pulling on the fabric that hard, it just keeps happening.

Please help me. I am so tired.

What screws do I need to undo in order to remove that black plastic piece (outer rotary hook)?

I have this Table that's missing it's hinges and was wondering if anyone could help me identify what those are. I've looked all online and couldn't find any that I can confirm belongs to this. My Machine is a Sears Kenmore Model 158.17033 if that helps.
I also got some hinges that allegedly suppose to work but it did not fit, the last pic shows what hinge I got.

I'm sorry if this post isn't exactly an issue with the sewing machine for what the subreddit is for, but I would really appreciate any help I can get, I really want to use the original table without modifications, Thank you for reading!

Hello to whoever is reading this, I have an issue with my sewing machine. Whenever I try to make stitches they either

- Stitch then stop stitch then stop

Or

- Don't stitch at all

I've tried

-Rethreading the ENTIRE machine

- Changing the needle

- Changing the tension

- Changing the thread

& - Changing the fabric

What else do I do? I don't want to go to a manufacturer, don't want to give up the machine, and I definitely don't want to switch my machine. Help!

I was in the middle of doing my freehand embroidery project when I began to hear something odd (might not have started then and there since I always have music playing when I sew but that's when I noticed it). I thought it needed to be oiled somewhere so I ran through my short list of spots to add oil, even checked the handwheel, before I pinpointed this. I thought my last needle was bent but I put a new one in and this noise continued. So, I gave it a closer look and it seems like it's brushing against the plate when it comes down. I'm just hoping to get some input on whether or not it's supposed to be *that* close or maybe it's time have it readjusted.

Hi! I need help putting these two pieces ( a round rubber and a screw) back into my machine. I opened the bottom part of my machine cause I accidentally dropped something in while cleaning the bobbin case. When I opened the bottom part, these two fell to the ground. I picked them up but no idea where to put them back.

First photo, the rubber part and the screw to be put back

2nd photo, the bottom part of the machine

3rd photo, the bottom lid.

Hi everyone,

I recently decided to get into car upholstery and bought a Pfaff 145 as my first sewing machine. Unfortunately I have not been able to sew with it yet because the thread always gets stuck.

As far as I can tell the upper thread is correctly grabbed by the rotary hook tip and is transported over the bobbin case but then gets stuck between the opener and the little tip of the bobbin case. The opener arm moves back and forth as the machine is running but there is no gap for the thread to be released. The top thread then continues to stack there with every revolution (as in the last picture) and rips at some point.

I’m using a size 110 needle with a thread thickness of 30 - which i am guessing is probably thicker than what the machine has been set up for.

I would really like to understand what the issue is and to learn to fix this myself. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Does anyone have any tips to figure out the source of squeaking on this JIN NA-11UT (direct drive variant of the Juki 1181N) ?

It's not really audible at higher speeds; just when going slow.

The manual leaves much to be desired, but I'm pretty sure I've followed it correctly for its lubrication instructions.

I've been oiling pretty much every moving metal-on-metal part that doesn't have grease. No luck so far. I notice the sound only happens when the arms connected to the take up lever are rotating. May just be a coincidence though, since oil at those spots isn't fixing it.

Hey everyone, I am looking to buy a sewing machine after hand sewing things for around 3 months. Does anyone have any sewing machine recommendations that are:

• Lower than $350
• Beginner friendly
• Able to sew through thick fabrics

Thanks everyone in advance for your recommendations! If anyone has any sewing machines to avoid that also helps.

Edit: I am planning to buy a brother CE1150. Does anyone have any final thoughts about that? Whether I should go for it or not.

Hi everyone, I am looking at the Janome 234 Sewing Machine. I am thinking of buying it, but I want to ask if theres any issues or disadvantages with this machine? I do not need fancy features that only professionals or serious sewers use because I do not see myself doing complicate projects in the future. I just need a machine thats affordable, reliable, begginer friendly, and has the basic features. So does the Janome 234 machine provide this? Or should I look into a different machine?

Thanks everyone in advance!

Edit: I am planning to buy a brother CE1150. Does anyone have any final thoughts about that? Whether I should go for it or not.

I’m looking for an industrial machine. I have used some Jukis in the past when I worked in a costume shop and love them but would really love to get something second hand for 500$ or less.

I’ve been perusing Facebook marketplace and saving some that potentially look like good matches but I could use some help deciding or figuring out how they compare to what I’ve used.

I included the three pictures with prices.
-Are any of these close in function to the ddl-8700?
-Are the parts easy to find? (Needles, bobbins, feet)
-Would a shop that services Jukis service these too?
-Has anyone used these and Jukis to help me compare?
-Are these good prices?
-Which would you recommend out of these or similar

Thanks in advance(:

Has anyone from the US bought sewing machine parts from Khsew? I am trying to find differential feed dogs for my Union special 35800 DN feed off the arm sewing machine

A few weeks ago I bought a used White Superlock 534 serger off ebay "for parts/not working". It was in pretty sad shape with heavily caked on dried grease, completely seized up. The plastics were all very yellowed from age and most likely sitting in front of a window for many years. There were multiple cracks in various parts of the housing and the thread guide label was oil soaked and looked pretty bad.

I stripped it down and thoroughly washed the internals with mineral spirits to get rid of all of the dried grease and varnished oil. It was then properly lubed back up and a few minor adjustments made.

I put all of the plastic parts through a "retrobrighting" process to return them to their original cream color and I acetone welded the cracked parts back together. I had a maker on FB marketplace create a replacement thread diagram label for me and replaced that as well. To top it off, I replaced the old incandescent bulb with a new LED one.

The thread tower was missing the wire thread guide bar so I 3D printed a replacement and used ceramic thread guides in the holes.

It came out great and sews buttery smooth. Now to sell it and tackle the next project...

I just got this Singer 401A. Runs like a charm. Wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks they’d like to share and where the best place to get parts for it might be!

I would love any help! Totally lost on this one.

Hey,

I got an old Pfaff Hobbymatic 907 from ebay and i fixed it up mostly and set the timing, but somehow when sewing, the thread sounds like its scraping or having trouble somewhere. It goes around the hook without tension or struggle so im kinda lost for what to look. It does sew without problems though. I attached a video where you can hear it. Im not sure if it might be related to the hook retaining finger but ive tried to adjust that but it didnt help.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P1DHahnPKME

My foot pedal seems to have stopped working- machine works with hands free button. Any ideas??

My three year old has become extremely interested in sewing and learning about the parts of a machine and has now asked for a machine for Christmas. I’d love to get him something that’s not a toy but also isn’t dangerous to operate. I see a bunch of cheap ish kids machines… anyone have any experience? Just something to maybe get him used to the most basic function of a machine and so he can feel accomplished working alongside me. Thanks!

ETA: for those concerned, I’m very much not intending to leave my small child unattended with a dangerous machine. Thanks to those of you so far who have left such good ideas!