When I sew knits, the stitching is never tight enough. I have a Singer 7258. It is very loose and looks bad. What settings should i use when sewing knits?

The Stylist 7258 does not have adjustable feed dogs. To do free-hand stitching (or darning), you need to put the darning plate over the feed dogs. This plate was included in the original accessories with the machine. You can buy a replacement from many sewing machine supply vendors, including https://www.sewingpartsonline.com/darning-plate-singer-087294.aspx .

The manual for the Singer Stylist 7258 is available on the product page: https://www.singer.com/Stylist-7258-Sewing-Machine . The current link to the manual is https://manuals.singer.com/Manuals/RetrievePDF/851 . See page 8, the accessories list, and page 12, using the darning plate.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

see http://www.singerco.com/support/frequently-asked-questions
Almost certainly one of the things is your problem

Which stitch are you using? As far as I can tell, the Stylist 7258 only allows you to change the needle position for straight stitches. If the machine is set to Pattern 00, press the right or left buttons from the 4 arrow keys in the manual setting arrows until the needle is in the desired position.

For all other stitches, the left/right arrows adjust the stitch width. This is described on page 30 (in English) of the manual. You can download the manual from the product page under the support tab: http://www.singerco.com/products/2101/7258-stylist#type-support . The direct link to the manual is http://www.singerco.com/uploads/download/4951b452e963a8fe1dd1fd83fbac68a35df8cf19.pdf .

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

If you are using knit fabric and a regular needle, then your machine will skip stitches. Can you give me more details on what you are sewing or trying to sew>

http://www.singerco.com/products/2101/7258-stylist

I know this is easy to say, but make sure your machine is threaded properly. And try sewing a piece of knit fabric without the knit stitch. You can still sew seams etc this way if you very slightly stretch the fabric as you sew.

E7 means the machine has 'had enough' and that error flashes to let you know it needs a break. I found that out by trial and error and after phoning Singer as well.

try using a washable stablizer or interfacing.
if that doesn't help then it's possible that a gear or cam may be worn enough to cause the machine zig zag not to work properly

Check your top tension. It sounds like it may be too loose or the bobbin tension may be way too tight. Most likely it is the top tension that is incorrect though. The TOP tension effects the bottom side of the stitch and the bottom tension effects the top. If the top tension isn't tight enough it won't draw the thread up through the top side taunt enough and the excess underneath makes a big loopy mess.

No sewing machine does a true overlock stitch, that is what sergers are for, they trim and form a stitch on the edge of the fabric using 1 or 2 needles and two loopers. Costs more for an additional machine but the finish is much more like a shop bought item.

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Some sewing machines have an overcasting or interlock stitch which looks like stitch 10 in this picture above. Your machine may have this stitch?

If not, does it have a three step zig zag? It looks like a zig zag but the needle goes into the fabric three times as it forms each leg of the zig zag. This stitch is great for neatening a raw edge and I use this a lot myself. Especially on wovens as it is always faster to seam with this rather than the overcasting stitch where the feed dogs move the fabric forwards, then backwards, then forward to make the stitch.

The sewing machine made overcasting stitch can be used to sew knit fabrics, attach rib around an neck line and neaten raw edges but it is always going to take longer than a serger and there is no trimming function so its never going to look like a shop made overlocked item. However, you can sew knit fabrics with a sewing macine with a bit of patience as long as the machine has some "Forwards/backwards" type stitches as these put elasticity into the seams - if you seam knit with a straight stitch, seams can break when under tension during wear.

And use a twin stretch needle and straight sttich to sew the hems, this looks a bit like a cover stitch and has a bit of give in it too.

Hope this helps you a little. You can find some good sewing general info on www.sewing.about.com or invest in a good sewing book. I refer to my Vogue Sewing Manual and my Singer Sewing Secrets often. Or take a sewing class, its a great way to learn new things, get enthused and have fun.