Used Sewing Machine Parts Questions Answered

admin answers:

Sewing machine oil and sewing machine grease — both easily available. Don’t use WD-40 (it’s a solvent) nor 3-in-1 or similar household oils — they seize up.

Check with the nice folks at Treadleon or the yahoo group “wefixit” for more information on lubricants for special purposes. Sometimes the teflon lubricants are useful.

admin answers:

What parts specifically?

There is the stitch length control and the stitch width control – you use them to alter the length and width of stitches.

The stitch selector for choosing the type of stitch.

The pressor foot for holding the fabric as you sew.

The feed teeth for moving the fabric through as you sew.

The hand wheel, for manually moving the needle up and down.

The needle position dial to move the needle horizontally.

The tension dial to control the tension on the upper and lower threads.

The bobbin compartment to house the bobbin case and bobbin.

The bobbin winder to wind thread onto a bobbin.

admin answers:

Sears Kenmore has a variety of styles and prices. They are a good and reliable brand but you should always get a demo first.

admin answers:

If there are parts still available from Sears, you’ll want the full model number, which will be of the form 123.4567890 The part of the model number that’s actually useful is the three digits before and the four digits after the decimal. The first three digits tell you who made the machine:

http://artisanssquare.com/sg/index.php?action=printpage;topic=5410.0

and the four numbers after the decimal are the model number — anything after that is just spinach. Http://www.searspartsdirect.com and

http://www.managemyhome.com/mmh/owner_manuals/search?query=

may be useful to you.

Chances are, your machine uses a class 15 or class 66 bobbin — here’s how to tell them apart: http://www.dritz.com/askus/knownotions/index.php but it may be another type entirely. Any good sewing machine repair shop can look at the extant bobbins and figure out exactly what you need if they are not 15s or 66s.

They can also look at extant presser feet and figure out what type you have, but you can do that too: http://www.clotilde.com/pages/which_foot.html and sewing machine shops and most fabric stores keep a stock of common generic sewing machine feet, like zipper feet, zigzag feet, perhaps piping feet, etc. Here are some of the types available: http://www.allbrands.com/products/abc0129.html

http://www.sewfancy.com/feet.htm

FWIW, typically a foot from the machine’s maker works a bit better on a particular machine than a generic foot — which is why it’s good to have the complete Sears model number so you know who made it. But generic feet usually do just fine — it’s just often the machine specific feet are a smidge better.

Enjoy your new machine!

admin answers:

Pam Cortese demonstrates how various machines work in the YouTube video.

Each machine has a bobbin and several Feet that allow you to do different kinds of sewing.

There will be a straight stitching foot; a zigzag foot; and a zipper foot.

In the area near the needle you will see a knob holding the foot in place.

When you ask for help knowing the Brand and the Model number will help the person who answers your question to show you more exactly what you need to know.

Readers Diagest and For Dummies both have good books on how to sew and use the sewing machine.

admin answers:

You have a thread tension adjustment problem here

At some point in the threads travels to the needle- there is a tension adjustment knob— this is usually located at a point in the thread’s travel approximately half way down the sewing machine’s head and the point where the thread is looped into a “tension spring” —- it is at that point that you need to do your adjustment—- tighten it slightly and make a pass of some trash cloth thru the machine— if the thread’s knotting up has improved— adjust a little more— test again etc until the proper tension is set !!! It should be fairly evident once you start this process if the tension needs to be slightly tighter or slightly looser— you may even have to “tweak” this setting slightly once you have the actual project material into it’s run— because the type of material and the thickness of the needle’s pass will have a lot to do with the necessary tension setting— the thread should “lock” at the back side of the material passing thru the machine to have the proper tension setting !!!

Hope this helps you—- set that tension and get that dress done— time is wasting here !!!!