bernina, walking foot, skipped stitches

I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to even
attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there? Happens
whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie batting, fleece,
etc)

--
Lady Cynthia, Royal Musicmaker

http://photos.yahoo.com/cbet_99
http://www.one-eleven.net/~music/
Remember, once you get over the hill,
you'll begin to pick up speed.

Does this happen when you are machine quilting (if you machine quilt)? Just
with the walking foot or with a free motion foot?
Are you going through just one side of the binding or are you sewing the
front and back down at the same time? In other words, are you going through
5 layers (binding, binding, quilt top, batting, and back) or 7 layers? This
shouldn't make a difference, I'm just curious.

Have you changed the needle recently? Sometimes that's all it takes to fix
a problem and if you used the same needle through the entire project, it may
have gotten bent or have a burr or something - it might be time to change
the needle.

What thread are you using? Is it regular sewing thread or a specialty
thread? Do you have a needle that is appropriate for the type of thread you
are using?

Has this always happened or is it a new development? If you broke a needle,
you might have pushed the take-up level out of wack a bit. That is easy for
the technician to fix.

You should mention this to your technician.

I had a similar problem with my first Bernina - it would skip stitches when
I was free-motion quilting. I knew why - my son had put the machine on
zig-zag when I had the straight stitch foot on, so I broke a needle. I took
the machine to my technician twice, explained (both times) that the problem
only occurred when I was free-motion quilting and not when I was just
stitching, and both times they claimed to have fixed the machine, and both
times the problem still occurred. So, I took the machine to a different
technician and explained the problem to him. When I got the machine back he
explained that there were a couple of things that were so very slightly out
of spec that they wouldn't usually fix them, but in my case he did - and my
machine worked perfectly. It pays to have a technician who will listen.

The other thing you can do is to take your machine and quilt to your Bernina
shop and show them what is happening. It's easier to help diagnose a
problem if you can actually see what is going on. Call first and make sure
there's someone available to help you before you haul everything in to the
shop.

--
Teresa in Colorado

--
"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to even
attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there? Happens
whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie batting, fleece,
etc)

--
Lady Cynthia, Royal Musicmaker

http://photos.yahoo.com/cbet_99
http://www.one-eleven.net/~music/
Remember, once you get over the hill,
you'll begin to pick up speed.

"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to even
attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there? Happens
whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie batting, fleece,
etc)

What size needle are you using? That's the first place I'd look in this
case.

Skipped stitches mean that the needle is not matching up with the hook
properly. Assuming there's nothing majorly wrong with your machine (and I'm
ruling that out because it doesn't happen most of the time), it means the
needle is "deflecting" when it's down in the fabric. That's usually for one
of three reasons -- the needle isn't beefy enough for what you're doing, the
needle is bent, or you are pulling too much on the fabric, causing the
needle to deflect. That last one is common with free motion, but you're
using a walking foot.

Whatever size needle you're using, I'd try a couple of sizes up -- if you're
using a #80, try a #90 or #100. I've found sometimes the same size, but in a
Jeans needle or a top stitching needle works. The shank is a little less
flexible, and can help with deflection problems.

Good luck!

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps
http://www.kayneyquilting.com ,
remove the obvious to reply

Teresa and Kathy both get gold stars and atta boys for those answers. Wow.
Couldn't have done better myself - although I "do" know everything and could
have done as well. Maybe. On one of my better days. Polly

Kathy Applebaum wrote in message
.com...

"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to
even
attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there?
Happens
whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie batting, fleece,
etc)

What size needle are you using? That's the first place I'd look in this
case.

Skipped stitches mean that the needle is not matching up with the hook
properly. Assuming there's nothing majorly wrong with your machine (and
I'm
ruling that out because it doesn't happen most of the time), it means the
needle is "deflecting" when it's down in the fabric. That's usually for
one
of three reasons -- the needle isn't beefy enough for what you're doing,
the
needle is bent, or you are pulling too much on the fabric, causing the
needle to deflect. That last one is common with free motion, but you're
using a walking foot.

Whatever size needle you're using, I'd try a couple of sizes up -- if
you're
using a #80, try a #90 or #100. I've found sometimes the same size, but in
a
Jeans needle or a top stitching needle works. The shank is a little less
flexible, and can help with deflection problems.

Good luck!

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps
http://www.kayneyquilting.com ,
remove the obvious to reply

I'll try other needles. I think I've already done that - but I may not have
gone as big as a jeans needle. hhmmm.

--
Lady Cynthia, Royal Musicmaker

http://photos.yahoo.com/cbet_99
http://www.one-eleven.net/~music/
Remember, once you get over the hill,
you'll begin to pick up speed.

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in message
.com...

"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to
even
attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there?
Happens
whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie batting, fleece,
etc)

What size needle are you using? That's the first place I'd look in this
case.

Skipped stitches mean that the needle is not matching up with the hook
properly. Assuming there's nothing majorly wrong with your machine (and
I'm
ruling that out because it doesn't happen most of the time), it means the
needle is "deflecting" when it's down in the fabric. That's usually for
one
of three reasons -- the needle isn't beefy enough for what you're doing,
the
needle is bent, or you are pulling too much on the fabric, causing the
needle to deflect. That last one is common with free motion, but you're
using a walking foot.

Whatever size needle you're using, I'd try a couple of sizes up -- if
you're
using a #80, try a #90 or #100. I've found sometimes the same size, but in
a
Jeans needle or a top stitching needle works. The shank is a little less
flexible, and can help with deflection problems.

Good luck!

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps
http://www.kayneyquilting.com ,
remove the obvious to reply

Jeans needles are really sharp. They come
in several sizes too so they aren't all
big.
TAria

Musicmaker wrote:

I'll try other needles. I think I've already done that - but I may not have
gone as big as a jeans needle. hhmmm.

--
Lady Cynthia, Royal Musicmaker

http://photos.yahoo.com/cbet_99
http://www.one-eleven.net/~music/
Remember, once you get over the hill,
you'll begin to pick up speed.

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in message
.com...

"Musicmaker" wrote in message
...
I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to
even
attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there?
Happens
whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie batting, fleece,
etc)

What size needle are you using? That's the first place I'd look in this
case.

Skipped stitches mean that the needle is not matching up with the hook
properly. Assuming there's nothing majorly wrong with your machine (and
I'm
ruling that out because it doesn't happen most of the time), it means the
needle is "deflecting" when it's down in the fabric. That's usually for
one
of three reasons -- the needle isn't beefy enough for what you're doing,
the
needle is bent, or you are pulling too much on the fabric, causing the
needle to deflect. That last one is common with free motion, but you're
using a walking foot.

Whatever size needle you're using, I'd try a couple of sizes up -- if
you're
using a #80, try a #90 or #100. I've found sometimes the same size, but in
a
Jeans needle or a top stitching needle works. The shank is a little less
flexible, and can help with deflection problems.

Good luck!

--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
longarm machine quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps
http://www.kayneyquilting.com ,
remove the obvious to reply



--
Please visit my web page at:
http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/taria/index.htm

See my Siberian Cat, Lilly, at:
http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/lillypage/lillycat.htm

I had this problem on my Janome. On advice, I changed to sharps needles and
the problem vanished. The sharps made the difference between hammering with
a blunt instrument to cutting a swathe through butter with a hot knife.

earthmagic in oz

I echo what Teresa, Kathy, and probably some others have said. Take
your machine in to your technician and let him (or her!!!) watch the
whole process, not only while they are using the machine but also while
YOU are sewing on it.

I am a Bernina technician and in this case I would want to watch the
thread as it travels through the machine. I would want to see if
there's any deflection of the needle that might cause the hook to not
travel through the loop of thread that is formed. I would want to see
if perhaps the thread is getting snagged on something that might cause
it to not form a big enough loop for the hook to travel through. The
more information you can provide (i.e. the exact fabric, needle, thread,
bobbin, presser foot, how fast you sew, etc.), the better your
technician can serve you and get your machine to perform the way it was
designed to. That's what we (the techs) are there for - to make sure
that you are happy with your machine's performance.

--
Lori
http://www.users.qwest.net/~lsquared/

Chocolate reduces stress. And it's so much quieter than throwing a
screaming fit.

Musicmaker wrote:
I get my Bernina tuned on a regular basis, and yet am still unable to
even attach a binding without skipped stitches. Any ideas out there?
Happens whenever I try to sew through more that just fabric (ie
batting, fleece, etc)