I have a prestige 160 that selects record and places needle on record then it goes back to home position and turns off. Would anyone know of this and possibly have a manual?

Ok. Depending on the thickness... garment weight leathers can be sewn with a domestic machine... Most often an even feed foot (the home version of a walking foot) is needed. You will likely need a larger leather needle and somewhat longer stitches than you would normally sew.

As for stitches looking messy on the back that is a top tension problem... you'll need to tighten the tension until that goes away. AFTER you have made sure you have your machine threaded correctly with the presser foot in the up position.

I looked through an online copy of your instruction manual and I don't see a guide which says what that symbol means. To me it means that the upper thread isn't threaded properly. Try one more time to rethread the upper thread but make sure your pressure foot is in the UP position. You may also want to use a piece of unwaxed dental floss and see if you can clean between the tension discs.

I went to Singer for you and found this bit of "help" Perhaps this will help you get back to sewing. It's worth a try.

"
You may have accidentally lowered the buttonhole lever located just to the left of the needle bar. To make sure it is in the correct position for sewing, place your finger under the lever and push up.
Also make sure the needle is set at the highest position and the bobbin winding spindle has been pushed back to the left or the machine will keep beeping every time you try to sew.
NOTE: To set the needle at the highest position, turn the hand wheel TOWARDS you, until the needle moves to the highest position. Finally, push the reverse button a couple of times, this will reset the machine.
If none of the troubleshooting techniques above solved the issue, please contact a SINGER Service Center to have your machine serviced."

Good luck

if you've changed the needle & it still hits the bobbin case then it's a good chance the machine is out of time & needs to be repaired

HI Evelyn,
sometimes its just the little things that stop your sewing project; so annoying isnt' it.


According to the manual I've found, this stitch width inner knob is turned to move the needle position. The outter part controls the zig zag width, so just move the inner knob to move the needle.

Hope that makes sense to you. Good luck finishing your project.

You can download a manual for free from the Singer website, link is
http://www.singerco.com/uploads/download/465_7442_efs.pdf

just copy this link into your browser window and give it time to download as its a large pdf file. Once open on your screen, you can click the "clipboard" icon to save the file to somewhere on your PC. Then print it out and either bind up or put pages into a display book so its easy to flip through and stays with the machine.

Just remember to always thread up the top thread with the pressure foot up - this opens up the tension device so the thread can seat it correctly and is something often missed.

Also, use a new needle for each new sewing project, ie about 4-6 sewing hours change the needle and throw out the old one. A blunt needle is often the cause of bad stitching.

All sewing machines, whatever the make, will have similar key parts that are critical to threading up. These will be thread spool holder, the top thread tension device, thread take up lever, a couple of thread guides, the needle bar and needle. Thread in order from the spool down to the needle as per the threading diagram in your manual, ensuring you get the the thread into each thread guide fully, then thread the needle from front to back.

Place the wound bobbin into the bobbin case, it should rotate anticlockwise when you pull the thread tail. Now place the bobbin case into the machine using the latch, and it should lock into place when you let go the latch.

Now hold the top thread tail, wind the balance wheel (big one on the side of the machine) towards you to lower the needle through one stitch sequence so that the needle goes down then back up, now pull the top tail and the bobbin thread should be caught and pulled up to the top of the needle plate. Always hold both threads at the back of the needle plate as you start a new seam to ensure the threads don't get pulled down into the bobbin case/rotary hook area.

Firstly remove all thread and the bobbin from the machine and wipe all over the machine case with a microfibre cloth to remove any dust and lint, paying attention to the thread, needle bar and pressure foot where lint will build up.

Then take your screwdriver and remove the needle plate, and take out the bobbin and bobbin case.
If you haven't removede the case before, then have a good look at it first, there is a stopper on the outter which lines up with a marking on the case. Hold the case and lift the nearest side up and towards you and it should come out of the holder.

Now using the brush that came with your machine, carefully brush out all dust and threads you can see in this area. Collect the lint onto a piece of fabric waste and make sure you get it all away from the machine and into the bin. Brush off the case you removed too, and examine it for any damage; sometimes during a jam up this case will dislodge, turn and the needle may strike the black plastic, if so, file out the damage with a nail file until smooth.

Now replace the bobbin case back into position, put it back into place facing the same way it came out, with the flat edge to the back of the machine, and line up the knob with the stopper. You may need to turn the flywheel to turn the rotary hook until it lines up again so you can drop the case into place.



Now you can put the needle plate back into place and screw it down, put in a new needle and thread up the machine.

Could be a couple of things:

Could be a bent needle? please change it for a sharp new one and make sure it goes in correctly, flat shank to the back.

Bobbin case dislodged or not in correctly ; I think these are vertical rotary hook machines with the bobbin inside a removeable bobbin case? Check that you have put the case in correctly, there is usually a long finger on the case that latches into a point on the rotary hook, holding the case in the correct position. Probably also a latch on the front of the bobbin case, which you use to fit it into place and remove it.

Lastly could be that the machine timing is out. Manually turn through a stitch sequence with no thread or bobbin, the needle needs to be at its lowest point down into the bobbin area when the rotary hook brings the thread around to catch at the back of the needle.

If you suspect it is the timing, you may want to get a technician to do this repair but certainly try the first two items first.

There should be a screw down by the needle, by the presser foot. Unscrew that button and remove the old needle. To replace that with a new one... there put the top of the needle into the needle hole. There will be a flat side to the needle and a rounded side. The flat side goes in the back. Once you have the needle in its position, tighten the screw to hold it in place. Let me know how it goes and if that fixes it.

No offense, but have you read your manual? IIt does not sound like it. If, you don't have it go to www.singerco.com and download it for free.

Depends on what kind of machine you have. Most of the time incorrect threading is the problem. The needle may be not be tightened in properly, or you may not have selected the correct sequence for zig-zag. Hope this helped a little.