Hi, i want want to know wow to do the thread cover stich on page 51 Can you show me where is the seam whidth finger knob and the driving clutch position? please give me those informations since instruction book page 10-11. What number of parts it correspond? Thank you ! Brigitte Lavoie 418-296-9725

Be sure to hold on to the threads at the beginning of your seam. I use an anchor swatch to sew onto at the end of each seam. This is easier to hold onto, and it saves thread as well.

Hello Jo C:
Instructions on moving seam width finger knob are on page 57 of your manual (available at http://www.singerco.com/uploads/download/555_14sh644_654-(e_s_f)-(new-led-version).pdf if you need one).
Also make sure that the blade is to ful left as this makes moving the stitch finger easier.

Happy Stitching
Sewingirl/

Read this hope it helps

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4302/understanding-thread-tension/page/all

Get into the practice of gently grasping and pulling the threads as you start your seam.

I can help you with your 334D as I have the same machine; there is several ways to adjust the stitching width but firstly check the stitching finger position is forward not back for rolled hemming. There is a little lever that is on the side of the cutting plate just in front of the foot and feed dogs, you need to push this forward; this inserts a stitching finger into the needle plate and the overlock seam forms around it. When you pull it back the finger retracts to form rolled hemming where you want the fabric to roll under. So hopefully this is all that is happening now with yours but I'll go through the whole process for clarity and others.

This is how I set up for a new fabric project. Turn the tension dials for all four threads to 5. Your needle tensions should not need to be changed often; perhaps just if from the right side of a seam you can see the needle stitch, you may tighten it fractionally. Stitch length knob on the side by the flywheel should be on about 2 and a half and the differential knob on zero also.

Now you want to adjust the cutting blade position firstly to get the width of seam best suited to the weight and type of fabric you are going to seam. If you are going to use the overlocker to join two pieces of fabric in a 4 thread seam to assemble a garment, then always test with two layers too. And if you are going to just neaten a single layer seam allowance, then test on just a single layer and set up for that.

I'm assuming you are seaming 4 thread but the comments are the same for the 3 thread, you just take out the left or right hand needle first or just cut the thread to that needle and leave it in place to get the 3 thread stitch. (Obviously if you are seaming something delicate like silk, take the unused needle out as it will leave holes in your fabric. Be careful when changing needles, use tweezers to hold the needle right up into the housing and never unscrew the screw too far, just enough to get the needles in and out. And always manually turn the flywheel towards you through a stitch sequence afterwards to make sure you've got the needles clearing the loopers, if you hear them touching, recheck needles are fully into housing.)

If you are seaming something light then you'll want a narrower seam. Have you moved your blade before? If not, you need to turn the needle to the highest point, open the front cover and raise the pressure foot and swing it to the side so you can see better. Now put pressure on the upper cutting blade towards the right to release the spring on it, then swing it upwards out of the cutting position. Adjust the position of the lower fixed blade by turning the knob that is nearby to it. You'll see the blade moving over. Once you get used to making this change, you can just put pressure onto the upper blade to release it with one hand, and turn the knob to move the bottom blade with the other.

If you move it towards the right it will trim further away from your needles giving you a wider seam and if you move towards the left you'll get a narrower seam, ie it cuts closer to the needles. So set it to the position you want depending on what you are seaming. Now relower the upper blade into position, swing pressure foot back into place and test stitch again on fabric offcuts. Take a look at the seam. Is the fabric "tunnelling" inside the seam? if so, release the tensions on the upper and lower loopers by a half increment only. Test again. Repeat process until tunnelling is gone and fabric is sitting flat inside the threads.

If the threads are looping off the edge of the fabric, then increase the tensions on the upper and lower loopers by a half increment only. Test again. Repeat process until the threads are sitting right up against the cut edge, and meeting right on the edge.

That is basically it - please feel free to ask me again for more help is this hasn't been clear or you still struggle with this machine. I presume that you don't have the instruction manual for it so I could scan a page or two if this will help.

This is a really good quality overlocker so don't give up on it; it sounds like you have just never been shown how to use it fully or never had the manual; consider purchasing one from Bernina or online as it is very instructive. If you find that you still struggle with getting the stitch tensions right, its a good idea to spend an hour or two with some calico and thread it up with four different coloured threads like the diagram inside the looper cover, then make stitching samples and adjust until its right. You can make a four thread, three thread wide with left needle, three thread narrow with right needle, 3 thread rolled hem and flat lock. Write down the tension numbers, stitch length and blade position onto the fabric sample and keep these in a note book for future reference. This will help you to remember what you need to change when you want to use that stitch type again.

And my last suggestion, if you can find a good sewing machine dealership or fabric store that runs classes, see if they run one for "introduction to overlockers" - I took a class from the Bernina dealer I bought my machine from back in 1992 and it was fantastic. I've used mine for bridal veils with fishing line, made table cloths, curtains, cushions, sewed dozens of knit garments for the kids and made most of my own clothes with my trusty Elna and this overlocker; its a very strong machine and better quality than many others on the market.

I don't know your babylock well, some of these have automatic tensions and electronic stitch selection. But a rolled hem is achieved on any overlocker in the following way; the actual dials and knobs might vary a bit.

Firstly there is a stitch finger that you need to change or retract so that the thread can roll the fabric rather than staying flat. For a normal seam this finger sticks out in the area where the loopers and needle form the stitch holding the cut edge flat until the seam is made over it. But for rolled hems you want to retract this finger so it does roll.

On the Bernettes this is a little lever in front of the stitching area that you pull back to retract the finger. Have a look around where the stitch forms and you should see the finger. Some machines, its a part you change on the needle plate with a screw driver, or just move a switch or lever.

You want the right hand needle in place, remove the left hand needle.

Thread upper looper with wooly overlock thread, this is a fluffy nylon that pulls flat under tension but relaxes and "fills" out once its stitched into place. Gives that lovely covered look you see on shop bought tablecloth edges. Your regular thread in needle and lower looper. Usually cutting blade to the right side as you want it to cut more fabric than in the seam so it rolls under. Now loosen off the tension on the top looper, (I use 2 on mine but this is something you need to finesse with each machine), and tighten up the tension on lower looper, (about 7). Leave needle tension alone.

Now test stitch on your fabric, and finess the upper and lower looper tensions until you get the lower looper thread almost not showing, it should be right up against the needle on the underside with the upper looper thread completely wrapping around top and bottom, pulling the fabric under.a seam like this.


Test stitch and adjust upper and lower looper until this is happening.

Now, turn stitch length down to close up the stitching, probably 1 or 0.8 if you want a real satin stitch look to the hem.

Because of the stitch density this uses thread so do the finessing first, then turn the length down.

That's it! Now right down the tension settings you used and keep handy for next time.

Making a rolled hem on any overlocker is achieved in the following way:

use right hand needle only and top and bottom loopers. Turn stitch length down so threads are closed up (on mine this is 0.5). Your stitch length dial will be one on the right hand side near the flywheel usually. Loosen off the the top looper tension and tighten up the bottom looper tension (these are the right and 2nd right tension dials on front of the machine). On my Bernette I leave the needle at the usual 5, 2 on the top looper and 6.5 to 7 on the bottom looper thread. Move cutting blade position to the right so that you are trimming the fabric quite a bit wider than your stitch, this makes the fabric "roll" underneath inside the stitching to form the rolled edge or hem.

There is also another step that needs to happen where you change or remove a little stitch finger that sits in the pressure foot or just under it. On the Bernettes, you flick a lever to move this stitch finger back towards the operator so it is out of the stitch forming area. On some machines, it is a case of changing the little stitch finger which is screwed onto the pressure foot with a screwdriver.

I really don't know with your Necchi which it is but have a good look at the pressure foot, and around the blade cutting area and see if you can see a lever or check out the accessory bag and see if there is another stitch finger in there, it would be smaller than the one on the foot now. In effect, this finger sits out and the threads wrap around it to form your normal overlock but for rolled hem you want a much smaller finger in place to make a very little seam.

The other variable which makes a very neat job is to use a thread called "wooly Overlock" in the upper looper only. This thread when pulled under tension is tight looking but when you let it go, it fluffs out. So when seaming on a rolled hem it fills out the stitching and covers the edge of the fabric fully giving a smooth look. You can do it without but wooly thread makes a great job and you'll see it on all Ready to Wear seams usually for this reason.

If I am going to roll hem a fine sheer woven fabric like organza or chiffon I will change the needle to make sure it is nice and sharp and also ensure it is a regular point, not a ball point (I seam lots of knits so have ball points in most of the time on mine) Usually a size 80 is fine.

I hope this gets you going with your overlocker, I usually test stitch quite a bit with the stitch length at the normal 2.5 setting and adjust the looper tensions until I've got the stitch looking good, then turn it down to the very close 0.5, just to not waste a ton of thread.

Have you used an overlocker before? If not, I'd suggest that you obtain a user manual for it as they are completely different to a sewing machine and at some point you will need to rethread it. You can purchase one from here
http://pages.sewing-machine-manuals.com/173/PictPage/3923709707.html

This machine makes three and four thread seams, which is a combination of two needles and two loopers. For the three thread seam you can use either the left or right needle which gives you different sized seams. For the four thread you use both needles, one goes through the middle of the seam and the other is on the left side securing the seam. On most overlockers you are able to move the cutting blade too and this will reduce or increase the amount of fabric being trimmed from the right side.

This page http://sewing.about.com/od/sergersoverlock/ss/serger.htm will give you some general information on sergers/overlockers too.

So adjusting tension is a matter of changing the tension on the top and lower looper threads to close up against the cut edge, or moving the blade over to make the seam a little wider or narrower. You may also need to finess the left needle tension so that the seam doesn't pull apart, I always test serge two layers and then pull open from the right side and see if the needle thread is showing (it will show a little bit but you dont want it so loose that it pulls open. Only tighten the needles in very small increments though, as you'll break threads and needles if you turn them up too tight.

Hard to explain without seeing what your machine is seaming now. But as a rule of thumb, start with all four tension dials (or 3 if doing a three thread seam) on 5. If the tension dials are correctly calibrated then this should give you a pretty good seam. You may wish to lengthen the stitches, I usually work with stitch length of 2.5 (same as your sewing machine stitch length) Stitch length will be a dial on the right side beside the flywheel or in front of the blade area. The blade adjustment should be a little knob near the blade area too. There will be a lower fixed blade and a moving upper blade which sits against the lower one, they work like scissors to trim the fabric. So to adjust the blade, you will need to take the pressure off the upper blade, then wind the knob to move it left or right.

Different weights of fabric will behave differently on the overlocker so you do need to adjust tension for each new project. For example, if seaming a jersey knit you'd use a four thread seam, this gives elasticity and strength and you can join two garment pieces with this seam. You'd probably make a 6mm or 7mm wide seam, the left needle will secure the fabric and the loopers will encase the fabric smoothly while the right needle secures them and gives extra strenth to the seam.

But on organza for example, I would make a very narrow three thread seam using the right needle as the organza will roll inside the overlocking if you cut the fabric too wide.

And on something like curtains I would neaten the edge with a wide 3 thread seam using the left needle to get a very wide seam, the fabric wont roll so you'd need to loosen the two loopers a little to smoothly encase the cut edge.
For example, on this image above you can see that the looper threads are laying a little off the edge of the fabric in places, particularly the lower looper, (the side that looks like Y's where you can't really see the middle needle thread), so I would tighten the lower looper about .5 on its dial, then test again.

I hope that this makes sense to you, you will need to test serge, and adjust one dial at a time, test again and look at the result, then maybe adjust another thread until you are getting a smooth looking seam.

A rolled hem on any overlocker is formed by using the right hand needle only, and the two loopers to form a narrow three thread seam. You also need to retract the seam width finger as Trial2962 said. This is a little finger that sits on the stitching plate and the loopers form the stitching over it. By retracting it, the looper threads can form a narrow seam and in fact, roll the fabric inside the seam. You need to move the cutting blade as far right as it will go so you are trimming as wide as possible from the needle, turn the tension on the top looper rigth down to 2 so it is very loose and this thread wraps around to the underside. And tighten the lower looper tension to about 7 so it hardly shows and sits right up against the needle thread. Adjust and test until you get the seam looking like this, then turn the stitch length dial (on the right side by flywheel) down to 0.5 to close the seam right up tight. Lastly, if you can source it in the right colour, buy woolly overlock thread and run this through the upper looper only, this thread is fluffy and when not under tension, relaxes and "fills" out so the seam appears like a continuous coverage over the fabric.

You will need to practice a few runs and go slowly on corners, a curve is obviously much easier to serge than a right hand cover so if you can, cut the fabric with curved ends, much easier to get a great finish. When you chain off at the end, you need to unravel the tail threads and pull them inside the seam for a few mm with a needle to get a smooth finish, then trim the tail and seal with a drop of Fray Stop.

It sounds like a thread tension problem. Find the knob for the tension and play around with it (look for instructions in the manual). If that doesnt work it might be the bobbin thread thats too lose in which case I would take it to the store or a repair service and have them show you how to do it.