Frame quilting with janome 1600 db

No the feed dogs aren't dropped on the Janome 1600 series sewing machines. Instead, you cover them with the darning plate. I haven't found the darning plate sold separately. https://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/jan-767-827-009.php is a source for the darning foot and darning plate. As far as I can tell, the darning plate is not among the original accessories for any of the Janome 1600 models. The manuals for two of the Janome 1600 models are on the retired machine page: https://www.janome.com/support/retired-machine-manuals/ . The manual for the Janome 1600P-QC is on that machine page: https://www.janome.com/machines/sewing/1600p-qc/ . The direct link to this manual is https://www.janome.com/siteassets/support/manuals/professional-series/inst-book-1600pqc.pdf .

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

Here's a manual:

Janome 1560 Instruction Book

Page 36 of the manual states that you need to use the darning plate, ie the feed dogs do not drop on your machine. Instead, you put on the darning plate to cover the feed dogs.

Here's a manual:

Instruction Manual Janome Jem Silver 662

The following is for a 660, but it doesn't mention anything about darning or free motion quilting:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0ahUKEwih_NGBzpjRAhXKh1QKHbKIAvwQFggoMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjanome.com%2Fsiteassets%2Fsupport%2Fmanuals%2Fcompact-models%2Finst-book-jem-gold-660.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEwCPZs5n8s4wdgIHMGHbN-GvDe-w

You can also contact a Janome dealer. If the machine does not drop the feed dogs, there should be a special plate accessory to cover them in order to do darning or free motion quilting.

Perhaps this is the accessory you need:
http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/cover-plate-elna-janome-necchi-825018035.aspx

https://tv-sewingcenter.com/products/janome-quilting-attachment-kit-for-jem-series

...

The needle HLX5 is proper for the 1600P, if it is a 1600 PDB the the DB x K5Q1is the correct needle. Normally a size 14 or 16 is good for quilting.

Doug

I am having irregular stitches on the forward/backward motion. I am using a Janome 16000 P on a Gracie II frame. (I purchased this as a used productin a private sale) Do I need a darning plate to effectively use the Sure Stitch regulator in a free motion mode or with a template?

I had a similar problem and then realized that the thread on the top had a **** on the spool it was catching on.

I recently purchased a Janome 1600P-DB and in order to do free motion quilting I had to cover the feed dogs with an index card. I also cut a small section out of the card to allow for the thread and needle to move freely. Standard tape was used.

I would try a 40 wt thread and experiment with a 16 needle. I find that for most of my quilts, 50 wt is too light for the Janome.

Try a different thread. It may be old or dry. Even some new threads seem to be finicky.

Janome now has a darning foot ie it looks like an embroidery foot with a spring designed for the 1600 models. It is metal with a ring where the needle goes down through it. I removed the plastic lens inside the ring and this seems to have resolved the problem.

I usually pull my threads to the top so I can see where they are and not getting tangled underneath.
There are several good groups on Yahoo groups which offer support for starting out on quilting