5 Reasons Your Sewing Machine is Shredding Your Thread

00:00 It’s always annoying when your sewing machine is having thread tension problems or just isn’t sewing well! Sometimes the culprit isn’t the machine (or you). Fortunately, these five troublemakers are easy to check and even easier to fix. 00:17 - Not great needle - You need a new needle, inserted properly, inserted all of the way into the machine. 00:49 - Not great thread - Old, brittle, or linty thread isn’t your friend. Thread isn’t super-expensive, but truly cheap thread can wreck your sewing projects (or your sewing machine!) 01:56 - Thread not unspooling well - This feels so obvious that it’s extra annoying when you realize this is the problem. Take a good look at your thread spool. Is some of the thread wrapped around the spool? Are you missing your under-thread felt? Does your thread spool have a little cutout to keep the thread neat when you aren’t using it? This can catch on your thread while you are sewing! If you think that is the problem, try turning the spool over so that the cutout is on the bottom of the spool. 04:16 - Thread doesn’t fit the needle - The thickness of your needle and thread need to match. All-purpose threads are designed to work with needles from sizes 70/10 to 90/14. Buttonhole, jean, and topstitching thread is thicker and is meant to work with needle sizes 90/14 to 100/16. If you’re paying attention, there is some overlap there, but if you’re having trouble, try a different size of needle to see if that helps. 05:28 - Needle and fabric are mismatched - Sometimes the thickness of the needle is correct for the thread and the fabric, but the type of needle should be different to sew well with that fabric. This chart from Schmetz needles, of course, points out different needle types they make, but you could apply the information to any brand of sewing needle. https://www.schmetzneedles.com/pages/... Our guest star today is a Montgomery Ward sewing machine that was a gift from one of my students. My best guess is that it's from the 1970s, but let me know if you know more about it!