Make sure your feeddogs are up. That is the little jagged looking plate under the pressure foot. There should be a setting on your machine that will move it up and down.

If they are up then the next thing I would suspect is that the bobbin is not in correctly. If it is a normal round bobbin that fits in a bobbin case, hold the bobbin in front of you so that the thread end is on top and the thread is going away from you, and slide it into the bobbin case. Feed the thread through the right openings in the bobbin case. When you pull the thread end the bobbin should turn clockwise.

Sounds like maybe the fabric isn't feeding through properly. Are the feed dogs lowered? On some machines you drop them to do certain kinds of stitches like buttonholes. Maybe you lowered them to do something like this and forgot to raise them again.(check your manual to see if your feed dogs raise and lower, and how to do this simple adjustment, I am not familiar with your machine and not all machines have this feature ) Also check to make sure the foot pressure is set high enough to help push the fabric through. Maybe you lightened it for some reason.

Good luck , I'm sure you'll solve this and it will turn out to be simple. Let us know...

Dear Soonergrandmom and Mary Ann, I tried what you suggested and it didn't work. My machine has no adjustment for the feed dogs. I only sew in a straight line so I wouldn't have been fooling around under the plate anyway. However, I took apart the machine to look for any kind of adjustment and I cleaned out some dust. The feed dogs are slightly elevated from the plate. The presser foot is attached with a screw and has a very slight range of vertical motion. I tried it all the way up and down and no change in result. I put the bobbin in the WRONG way just to see what would happen (and to see if I was senile and couldn't read instructions) but nothing happened. The fabric is moving forward in microscopic stitches although the stitch length is set at "4" -- the longest. My manual is very basic. I went to the Brother site and it won't let me download the manual for this machine but it's probably the same one I have. I was hoping for a more detailed one.

Thanks so much for your help. Any other thoughts?

Jeannette

This is a follow-up to my thread about my machine not feeding the fabric. I tried to post under my original message but it was rejected because it said I'd already posted one follow-up to that message.

Well, I fooled around a little more with my machine and now there's no sign of the fabric moving and no sign that the threads are coming together to make a stitch. I tightened and loosened the screw on the bobbin, I raised and lowered the presser foot, I adjusted the tension from 3 to 7 and I took apart the bobbin assembly (those rings) and put it back. I thought I put everything back where it was but now there's no sign of fabric movement and the bobbin threads clog up underneath the plate. I'm going to bed! Please help if you can.

Thanks, Jeannette

Take it to the shop and let them fix it.If you've changed all the bobbin tensions,you may never be able to fix it yourself,since as you say"you're not really a sewer".Messing with it anymore may only make it worse and cost you more money.JMO
Kathi

First, check the pressure on the pressure foot, could be that you should increase it.

Several years ago the feeddogs on my Singer wore out! Fabric wouldn't feed, the thread balled up, and I was panicked and sure I needed a new machine, but the problem was easily and cheaply solved by the repairman with new feeddogs. Good luck.

Sherry

Jean youve gotten fustrated hope by now youve had a cup of coffee and your mind is back in place,wonderful things
when working right,take your pressure plate off and see if lint ,thread,trash are under pressure plate clean well,replace take your bobbin out with the race,hold by theread if it dosent move loosen bobbon tension untill it willmove down when you jerk it up and down like a yoyo,not hard though.
when you git it to move clean out whole bobin area replace race and bobin.
now check whether the material will move dont thread yet,
Now if it dosent move check your pressure on foot. add pressure if not moving,if it moves now rethread,please make sure you rethread correctly.when you get to the take up lever make sure it is in up position.
Now while pulling thread through take up lever lower lever
slowly,if you have threaded correctly uyou should feel pressure being applied to thread if you dont your not inserting thread corectly,thread must go between pressure discs.
if it is between and still dosent have pressure you need to take apart and clean thourly,make sure you make a sketch of how parts come off so you can put back together.Hope this takes care of your problem. Harold gldnagr@otelco.net

I have a similar issue with my 40+ year old Sears sewing machine which has always been very dependable. It will not feed on forward, but does feed on reverse. I am the original owner, a basic sewer, just use it for easy projects or repair. I took it into a local sewing store for service, and they wanted $169. If I can't solve it at home and it costs that much to service, I might as well buy a new machine. Any ideas?

Pups and meets thank you so much for your response that was exactly what was wrong with my machine!

I know this thread is old but I wanted to say thank you pupsandmeefs that was my machine's problem too. I have a new to me 1950s machine and I was playing with it for 20 minutes trying to get it to feed. Apparently when you change the stitch length on my machine the f/b bars tends to drift. Thank you so much! I was just about to order new feed dogs!

I had a problem on a cheapish Janome machine. I took off the plate and actually pressed the feed dog teeth thing down and it released. Ie it went back upwards, so was then able to "catch" and grip the material. Thx to all who gave advice and empowered me to tinker a bit and not take it to a shop to be repaired for probably more than the machine is worth! It took seconds to do it myself after reading the comments here.

When having a feed problem, Take out all thread, top & bottom, & just put a piece of fabric through. If it feeds forward & in reverse, u have eliminated that there is a problem with the feed dog, the pressure foot downward tension, & the stitch length setting. Next, set the stitch length for 8 stitches per inch. Put a piece of paper under the pressure foot as u would a piece of fabric, lower the pressure foot & "sew" a couple of inches forward & in reverse. Count the holes...8 per inch? Good. Now, with settings that work properly, concentrate on threading correctly. (The bobbin threaded incorrectly is the problem 90% of the time). When your machine loads the bobbin with thread, the holes in the bobbin wall should be turning clockwise as u look down on it. When u place the bobbin in the bobbin case correctly, the holes should be turning COUNTERCLOCKWISE. Note this is not the easiest way for the thread to pull, & you don't want it to be. By following your direction guide carefully, it has you reversing direction as the thread feeds out of the bobbin case in order to cause the proper tension...u will have to hold 1 finger on the bobbin as u are threading it through the bobbin case to have it reverse direction. Now place the whole thing into the machine. The bobbin thread will just hang down. Now by holding lightly onto the end of the top thread, & with the pressure foot up, give 1 turn by hand on the wheel, usually toward you, so the needle goes in & out once. The top thread should pick up the bobbin thread. Tug on the top thread end where you've been holding it & it should pull the bobbin thread up through the hole under the pressure foot. With the NEEDLE in the uppermost position, pull both threads together until they are about a foot long. Now, putting the pressure foot down, sew a single piece of fabric for a couple of inches & inspect. Stitch should look smooth on both sides, no knots or looseness or pucker. If it doesn't, head for the repair shop. If convenient, take just your bobbin & bobbin case to the repair shop & make sure u are doing that step correctly. Your Brother bobbin & case fit many machines including Singer, & the shop person will be able to show you. (Am a H.Ec. teacher for 20 yrs.)

Sometimes the PRESSER foot can get worn so it doesn't make proper contact with the feed dogs. The feed dogs can also get worn and need adjusting or replacing.

WOW! I can't believe I said that! PRESSER foot of course, in spite of the fact it creates pressure on the feed dog surrounded by a pressure plate. (Freudian?) Thanx.

Pupsandmeets... You saved my life!!! I took the whole cover off and couldn't find the problem! But I played with the reverse lever as well as the stitch lengths and now it works!!!

I have a brother machine GS3750WT..I cannot find a switch anywhere to lower my dog teeth can anyone help me please

I don't have that machine, but looking at the manual online, looks like it doesn't lower. You need to buy a special plate that's raised, to cover the teeth.