Thread From Spool Pulls Right Out

15 years ago

My sewing machine works fine, and in fact I'm so ignorant about sewing machines, for all I know it IS working fine. The problem I'm thinking I'm seeing is that after sewing a line, I can easily pull on the "top thread" (the one which came from the spool) and it slides right out from the grasp of the bottom thread (which comes from the bobbin.) I do recall testing the sturdiness of the stitching from this sewing machine before, and being surprised that I could NOT just pull it out from the material. In other words, I do not recall the thread behaving the way it is currently when pulled upon.

I have experiemented with different tensions. The straight stitch which I'm doing lookes prettiest and most consistent on a setting of 5. However, on any tension setting, I can still easily pull on the top thread, and it comes right out.

I have located the manual for this old CM-17C singer machine. I downloaded it and do not see anything about setting the tension for the bobbin. In the area of the bobbin I do not see any screw heads which might be turned to set tension on the bobbin. Unfortunately the illustrations in the .pdf file are a mess. They did not scan well to the new format.

I did sew a line and then tried pulling on the fabric (not the thread this time), trying to pull the fabric apart (pulled perpendicular to the stitching). The line of thread did hold up well to the pulling, so well that the fabric tore before the stitching gave way.

I'm yammering. Can anyone gimmie some hep?

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Comments (4)

teresa_nc7
15 years ago
Are you sure you have the right type of needle in the machine? Try using a different needle and see if that helps.

Have you double-checked that you have put the needle in correctly?

Is the machine threaded correctly for the model that you have? Unthread the machine and thread it again.

Have you taken out the bobbin and checked it really well for stray threads? Sometimes tiny thread bits can mess up the operation. Take a brush and clean out the bobbin case area really well.

Wish I could help more.
damascusannie
15 years ago
How many stitches per inch are you sewing with? If you are using a really long stitch length, you will probably be able to pull out the stitching no matter how much you fiddle with the tension. I shoot for 12-15 stitches per inch for most seams.

Annie
theturtlelady
15 years ago
The bobbin tension needs adjusting. Turn the screw on the bobbin case a tiny bit and check how it sews. It sounds like it's too loose if it's letting the top thread slide through. Adjusting the tension dial on the machine only affects the top thread.
janene1
15 years ago
Do you have the presser foot up or down when you are pulling this upper thread. Having the presser foot up releases the tension and lets the thread pull easily.