Skip to content

Sewing Beginner’s 101 – 5 Tips to Understanding Your Machine Before You Start.

The secret to having a good start with your sewing machine is understanding a handful of basics. There are some very common spots where people go awry because they either don’t know better or because they think “it can’t be that important…” Ironically, they all contribute to the single, most critical factor in machine sewing: tension. Too much tension and the thread snaps. Too little and an excess piles up that builds what tailors and seamstresses call a “bird’s nest”. That knot of thread on the bottom side of your fabric that makes you think your machine was thinking “Here’s some more!!!!”

We’ll have some videos below, but before you start clicking away, read this so you don’t potentially waste time on the wrong video.

1. Top-loading vs Front-loading Bobbins

I know, it sounds like we’re talking about washing machines, right? Well, believe it or not, sewing machines start branching off from one another here. If you’re an absolute beginner, watching a video with the one type, won’t help much if you have the other. The terms front- or top-loading refer to how the bobbin, containing thread for the bottom part of the stitch, is loaded into your machine.

For the longest time, machines were all front-loading. You dropped a panel on the front of the machine, just under the needle (or pulled off a sleeve, called an extension table, to reveal the panel door), removed the bobbin case, took out the empty bobbin and placed your full bobbin in the bobbin case, inserted the case back into its position, closed the panel and away you went! It’s super simple and only sounds complex if you’re reading the steps for the first time.

The front-loading bobbin case is circled in red.

That said, top-loading sewing machines are a touch simpler. The hatch is on the top and they don’t have a bobbin case that needs removing. Open the hatch, drop it and you’re halfway there!

2. Which Way Does the Thread Go?

Another difference between the two is the direction the thread travels, or unwinds, from the bobbin. Generally, the tail of thread hanging loose from the bobbin will give the bobbin the look of either a lower case “p” or a lower case “q”. Since there are many people who still prefer the heavier, all-metal construction of older sewing machines and since they were all front-loading, and easy mnemonic is “q” for quality old machines and “p” for the practical modern machines. Actually, the thread ultimately ends up going the same direction once the bobbin case is rotated for insertion.

3. Loading the Bobbin

My biggest tip here? Do not hand-wind the thread. Always load them mechanically, be that on the sewing machine itself or on a separate bobbin-loader. We, as humans, simply cannot load them evenly enough. That said, make sure your machine is loading it evenly and that the thread is moving up and down. It should look even, like a column, not a vase or V in either direction. This can be assisted by using your finger to rhythmically guide the thread up or down, whichever direction it isn’t doing on its own.

The reason evenness is so important is that it ensure an even tension while unwinding. Tension is everything.

4. Using the Right Sewing Needle

Would you flip your over-easy eggs in the frying pan with a spoon? It might work, but there is a better tool for the job. Using the right tool for the job is generally important, but sometimes it is critical and determines your success or failure.

Universal Needles is a terrible name at best, and a lie at worst. It misleads you to believe they are the catch-all needle. A better term would have been the “General Purpose” or even the “Usually Right”. Seriously. Even if a universal needle suits your needs (sewing standard cotton or poly weave fabrics) you have a variety of shaft sizes to choose from. Using a universal needle, for example, on a canvas tote’s rolled seam is begging for shrapnel or a damaged plate.

 

5. Tension – It Will Break You or Your Thread

This is where the majority of people give up. To be continued…

Erik has worked in the craft industry in one form or another for decades and currently manages the arts and crafts shop.

Back To Top
Search