Hi, My Elna 7000 doesn't easily feed medium or thin fabrics. Presser Foot tension lever is position 2 and the Feed Dog is rising normally. Any thoughts please? Does the F Dog wear out in any way?

Can I Free Motion Quilt on a Regular Sewing Machine? By National Quilters Circle

Yes

https://www.nationalquilterscircle.com/article/can-i-free-motion-quilt-on-a-regular-sewing-machine/

How to Stitch the Perfect Stitch Length for Quilting
JULY 28, 2020
Today’s Topic: How to Stitch the Perfect Stitch Length for Quilting

https://lorikennedyquilts.com/how-to-stitch-the-perfect-stitch-length-for-quilting/

f Fabric Is Not Feeding Properly

If the machine is not feeding fabric when you start sewing, it could be that the presser foot lifter has not been lowered before stepping on the foot controller. Lower the presser foot and resume sewing.
Another reason the machine may not be feeding fabric is that the feed dogs (or feed teeth) are disengaged, so make sure that they are properly engaged for sewing. (Note: If your machine has drop feed, resume normal sewing by moving the drop feed lever to regular sewing mode, then turn the hand wheel toward you one full revolution to re-engage the feed dogs).
The machine may also not feed fabric if the stitch length control is set to "0". Increase the stitch length setting and resume sewing. Reference - Singer .com. Troubleshooting tips.

Without fabric in your machine and with the presser foot raised, do the feed dogs move front->back? Are the feed dogs in the raised position? Is the stitch length at a 10-12 stitch per inch setting so that the fabric actually moves (try increasing the stitch length to see if it makes a difference)?

Does your machine have a presser foot pressure adjustment? If you are sewing light weight fabric, the pressure may need to increased so there is more pressure applied by the presser foot to the feed dogs. You can also try adding a strip of tear-away or wash-away stabilizer to the underside of the fabric as you stitch so the feed dogs have something to grip.

Are the tips of the feed dogs rounded? Could be worn and need replacement.

If the feed dogs are not moving, how long has it been since the machine was cleaned and oiled?

It was working now it seems to be frozen the needle part wont move

If the feed dogs remain below the needle plate, and the feed dog lever does not activate them, then perhaps something is disconnected in the feed dog mechanism. The feed dogs should rise when stitching begins.

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Tension generally does not affect the feed unless it is way too tight. Most reasons for fabric not advancing under the presser foot is that the feed dogs have been dropped for darning. If the feed dogs are operating properly, as the handwheel turns the feed dogs should rise above the plate, move toward the back of the machine pulling the fabric, drop down, come forward and rise again.

The other possibility is that the presser foot pressure has been released so the presser foot is not holding the fabric down on the feed dogs. Some machines have a spring-loaded knob on the top of the machine, a dial, or something to adjust the amount of pressure the foot applies. Consult your owner's manual.

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Hi, I hope this helps. If it doesn't post again.
"Check:
Place the sewing foot under the sewing foot
holder so that the pins of the foot snap into
the sewing foot holder when the presser foot
lifter is lowered.
Please check that the sewing foot is properly
engaged by raising the presser foot lifter."

Question: Are you using top feed? If so:
"For all sewing jobs with the top feed, only use sewing feet with Cutout at the back (OA, 1A, 3, 4)."

Embroidery foot Part No.: 98-694-840-00 will not work with top feed.

Also, except for eyelets, the darning foot can be used for embroidery.

I'm not sure what you're trying to do :) darn or embroider :); I'm not sure what mode you're working in either; embroidery mode?

Darning with straight stitch
Program 00
Fit darning foot No. 6.
Set the needle at its highest position by turning
the handwheel, and push the pin of the darning
foot fully into the hole of the sewing foot holder
slightly pressing the darning foot between thumb
and forefinger. When doing this, the guide fork
should place itself around the presser bar and the
wire must be behind the fixing screw.
Darning position:
Lower the presser foot lifter pressing it lightly to
the rear until it snaps into the darning position.
Important Only in this position you have the
optimum thread tension for darning.
• Place the darning work in the darning hoop.
• Lower the feed dog.
• Pull up the bobbin thread and hold the threads
when you start sewing.
• Now guide the fabric back and forth evenly;
the length of the darn will be set by the size of
the hole. As you are determining the stitch
length yourself while sewing with the feed dog
lowered, you should sew at an even speed.
When you have reached the width of the dam
aged area, darn over the damaged area again
from right to left.
This guarantees a durable darn.
TIP: The faster you sew, the easier and more even
the darning will be. It you are moving the workpiece
too slowly, small knots will appear on the
wrong side of the fabric."

Whether working with terry-cloth or woven fabric,
with the help of the darning foot and the pro
gram 02 you can embroider initials of your own
design

Drop the feed dog and insert the darning foot.
Put the machine into the darning position.

Spread the fabric in an embroidery hoop and
embroider in accordance with program 02.

Lower feed dog
If the feed dog is not lowered for embroidering, the
machine does not embroider when the foot pedal
is pressed and the message appea rs:
Lower feed dog
ok?
The feed dog must be lowered in embroidery
mode.

Rhonda: According to eHow. com: " Instructions

1. • 1 Plug the power cord for the Singer FM-22 into the wall power outlet.
     
   • 2 Turn the wheel on the right of the machine toward you until the take-up lever on the front is in the highest position. Raise the presser foot releasing the tension discs. Put the thread spool onto the horizontal spool bar and lock the spool in place with the cap. Run the thread through the thread guidepost on the top of the machine, to the guidepost on the front, down through the tension discs, up into the take-up lever and down into the guidepost on the needle shaft. Thread the needle and pull until there is a 2-inch lead.
     
   • 3 Press the power switch so the upper portion is pressed in. The 'I' means on and the 'O' means off.
     
   • 4 Place material under the presser foot and lower the presser foot setting the tension and holding the fabric in place on top of the feed dog. The feed dog is the metal plate under the needle where the material is feed through the machine.
     
   • 5 Lightly step on the foot controller to begin sewing. Go slowly until you are comfortable with the speed of the machine.
     
   • 6 Practice changing the stitch type and moving the cloth along with the feed dog.
     
   There is also a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5fpgVsUEXA
   ThereT

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8781400_work-fm-22-sewing-machine.html"

The first thing to do is make sure the feed dogs are supposed to be feeding the fabric through. Check the lever or button that raises and lowers the feed dogs. Make sure it is in the position for ordinary sewing. If it is not, then move it to the correct position. Then, without any fabric under the presser foot, turn the main shaft of the machine by hand and watch the feed dogs underneath the presser foot. Don't simply look down at the dogs. Lower your viewpoint so that you're looking from front to back just SLIGHTLY above the horizontal level of the sewing deck. While looking at the area right where the feed dogs are, watch to see if the dogs a rising SLIGHTLY above the level of the deck. If they aren't, and if the feed dog lever is in the correct position for ordinary sewing, then something is out of adjustment or is broken. If you are not mechanically inclined or if you are totally terrified of opening up your machine to take a look, you'd better take it to a shop and let them do it.

thread looping on the underside is a symptom of no tension on the top thread so you need to look at the top threading path and the tension dial, is it set to 5? and is the thread pulled fully into the tension disc? Also always thread the top thread with the presser foot raised as this opens up the tension discs so the thread can bed in correctly. If you can see the feed dogs rising up and down above the needle plate during their cycle then they should be gripping and moving the fabric forward. Is there presser foot coming down firmly onto the fabric when you release the presser foot bar? This part does have a big spring inside which applies pressure downwards, maybe this is what the mechanic meant was broken. Was he a sewing machine technician? Maybe try to locate an old school Elna technician, start with www.elna.com and go to your country, then search for a local dealer.

Feed dog lever should lower the feed dogs, these are the teeth that grip and move the fabric foward and backwards as the needle goes up and down, they are under the needle plate.

Only time you would lower the feed dogs is if you want to do free motion embroidery or darning perhaps.

So no, don't touch for normal seam stitching. If you are sewing very heavy fabric you may want to lessen the pressure on the presser foot a little (if your machine has this adjustment it will be a knob on top of the head above the pressure foot area).

You may find that your machine doesn't really like very thick fabrics. Sewing something like upholstery weight with a domestic machine is pretty ambitious; an industrial strength machine is best bet.

Presser foot tension is to low for the weight/finish of the fabric, or bottom dogs are worn.

• The feed dog feeds the fabric under the presser foot while you guide the fabric.

  
  

• The feed dog regulates the stitch length by how much fabric passes under the presser foot as the machine stitches.

  
  

• It is important for you to not push and pull the fabric under the presser foot. Allow the feed dog to move the fabric, so that you do not bend and break sewing machine needles.

Hope this helps.