Skipping Stitches?

Why does your machine skip stitches? The reason are many, just to name a few. A skipped stitch can be the result of mechanical problems, a piece of lint, your choice of needles, or material, or all the above.

Let’s start with material. Some knits, Polyesters, Tricots, and most stretch materials in general, stretches with the needle. As the needle passes through stretch fabrics, the materials clings to the needle, and pulls the fabric down and then pulls up with the needle. The amount of stretch is so slight that it cant be seen, but does in many cases cause a skipping problem. How does the above cause skipped stitches? As the needle goes down through the material it can push the material down, and as the needle penetrates stretch material the material closes around the needle and causes the thread to cling to it, so that when the needle starts its way back up, the thread still clinging to the needle does not form a loop for the hook to pick up. Result! Skipped Stitch.

What to do! Assuming that there is no mechanical problem, such as timing, and your machine does fine with other material, then the fix is a easy one. Change the Needle. Stretch Size 11 for light weight fabric, and size 14 for heavy weight. That’s it.

Your choice of needles can effect your project in many ways. So the best way to avoid these problems is to use only best needles and thread you can get.