Having a problem with stitch tension can you help

Try this:
Remove the top thread completely from the machine.
ALWAYS RAISE the presser foot and rethread from the beginning.
Verify the thread is following the correct threadpath.

FWIW, stitch length 7 is pretty long. Are you running a basting stitch?

Machine settings usually need to be re-adjusted when the project materials change, ie the needle size & type, the type/weight of thread, the presser foot pressure, the thread tension, the stitch length, etc. Sewing woven cotton is very different from sewing silk or chiffon. Test on scraps of the fabric before actually sewing on the garment. Even adding tissue paper to the stitching will help prevent fabric puckering.

Top 10 Tips for Sewing With Silk

How To Sew With Silk And Silklike Fabrics

When zig zagging over a raw edge, the tension on the thread will pull in the fabric, especially in lightweight cottons or even lighter organza. Its not the best edging method for very light weight fabrics. You can try using a smaller zig zag, loosening off the top tension a little bit. Or if your machine has it, use the triple zig zag or serpentine stitch, where the needle goes through the fabric three times to make up each zig stitch, this stitch is better for edging most fabrics and is my preferred stitch.

Try loosening both top and bottom tension. while longer stitches are easier, it can be done on shorter stitches as well. A bennifit to shorter stitches is the gathers will be smaller and easier to work with! Remember to reset the bobbin tension before sewing again.

Stitch length of 4, loosen your top tension by half a number and always pull up the bobbin threads.

If you need to gather yards of fabric then get a gathering foot. Janome make one - it looks like this


This foot is for creating soft gathers in lightweight fabrics. The underside of the foot is raised behind the needle and has a thick bar in front of the needle to gather the fabric. This works great to create the gathers as you sew. You can also gather and attach a ruffle onto a flat piece of fabric simultaneously, run the flat fabric through the top groove of the foot and the underneath fabric is gathered and stitched to the top piece, you need to keep the bottom piece feeding smoothly though so it takes practice to guide it evenly. Once mastered it is great to ruffle on valances and cushion frills.

Other option is use a ruffler foot, these will make a little ruffle every 12, 6 or 1 stitch so give a set result, and to obtain a more dramatic gather. They look like this.


The arm of the foot with a C'shape sits over the needle bar of the machine so it is moved up and down to activate the device. The little blade at the front moves backwards at regular intervals forcing a "tuck" of fabric into the feed to be stitched. Again you can ruffle and stitch to straight fabric at once but it is an art to master.

The weight of the fabric you are gathering is obviously the key variable, ginghams and poplins are lightweight so gather easily but if you need to gather something heavy like cordoroy it is going to be a battle and threads may break. If so, stitch two lines of gathers and don't try to do long runs, you'll just break a thread and have to start over.

Another good way is to zig zag over a length of perle cotton, taking care not to actually stitch the pearle at all. You can then gather up the fabric along it, this works well for heavier weights.

Your thread tension is too high. Also, since you are sewing light-weight fabric, you may want to add some tissue paper to the fabric sandwich to help give it more body and limit the gathering effect.

Understanding Thread Tension Threads

Normally to gather fabric, you select the regular straight stitch, turn the stitch length up to maximum (4 or 5 usually), and stitch two rows of stitches, one at 10mm from edge and one at 20mm from edge.

Then gather by pulling the bobbin threads (underneath ones) from each end to gather the fabric. If doing lengths of more than 1 metre, then stop, leave long thread tails, and start a fresh length of gathering threads to avoid gathering long lengths of thread which might break on you.

If your machine has a basting stitch it might look like " .___.___.___" on the dial however, I've never been that happy with machine basting for things like attaching slippery fabric to underlining, I've always done it with needle and thread to keep the two layers matching and not stretching/slipping. For example, stitching a piece of chiffon to a underlayer of satin, even pinning carefully, these two fabrics will slip under the machine foot so I'd always do it by hand.

If you have masses of fabric to gather, sometimes what is quicker is doing a large wide zig zag over a length of perle cotton (heavier than thread) at the 15mm seam, don't let the needle pierce the cotton though. Then you can gather the fabric along the perle cotton.

Sewing machine instruction manual often assumes a knowledge of sewing techniques that you may not yet have. I have the Vogue Book of Sewing on my shelf and refer to it often. Or Singer do a good range of sewing books too, its worth investing in a good reference book.

I also love www.patternreview.com, this is such an awesome website for dressmakers/sewing enthusiasts and you will find loads of helpful tips here.

Hope this helps you a little.

So you are sewing two rows of straight stitch at 10mm and 20mm from fabric edge with a stitch length of 4? Are you using good quality thread? I like Molynecke, Guttermann or Sylko Supreme.

Try loosening the top and bottom tension too, and use a gathering foot if you have one.

A quick solution is to zig-zag over a length of pearl cotton or similar heavy weight string/thread, this works well for large volumes of gathers such as around a bed valance frill.

For large volume gathering like cushions and bed frills, I use a pleater/ruffler attachment, however, this has only 3 settings so isn't a variable gathering effect.

Check the bobbin tension too. It could be too tight. Make sure you are using the right size needle for the material as well. Sheer, thin fabric needs a smaller needle, thicker material requires bigger needles. Bobbin tension is the typical problem as most think to adjust the top tension but don't check the bobbin tension.

Is your quilt peices cotton? Cotton shouldn't cause as much trouble sewing along the edge but don't use too long of a stitch length else it will seem to gather up. Puckering side to side however is a tension problem usually. With sheerer fabrics that cause a problem sometimes you can put thin paper underneath, sew through both and then pull the paper off after sewing. (thin like the iron on type interfacing type fabric but like paper).

Probably the most important contol on your machine is this one that regulates your top thread tension there are reason for having to reset your tension.Classified your fabric that you are using there are several set up of tension in every fabric that you use.Cotton fabric is most easier other than silk fabric make a record on this set up.The required tension depend upon the stiffness of the fabric,thickness,layer of rabric to be sewn and required stitches.Try cotton fadric turn tension dial to N0. 3 and Stitch set to from 8 to 12 defend to what is nice to you.