Sewing Felt/Fleece ? AHHHHH!

Similar to Gryffindorgrl's question but a little more specific
The thread is bunching up under the part where the bobbin goes and I keep having to pop the thing and pull it out and re-thread. Also the thread that goes through the needle keeps popping. I'm pretty sure the bobbin is threaded correctly and I'm also pretty sure it's going to have everything to do with the tension it's on, so what should I do to stop this?

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8 replies since 12th January 2013 • Last reply 12th January 2013

Reply #1:

I'm not too much help because whenever this happens to me, I don't really know what I'm doing. But play with the tension of your machine on some scrap fabric of the same amount of layers and such as your piece is. When I sew fleece and felt, I tend to use a medium to long stitch. A short stitch feels like it's just perforating the fabric and creating a future blow out, in my opinion. Also, your bobbin does need to be wound really smooth and with even tension. Sometimes I just wind a new bobbin when I don't know what else to do and then everything is fine and dandy. And make sure you have nice thread. If you can break it with your fingers, than it's definitely going to suck and break a lot. So make sure you are using a strong enough thread for the fleece/felt. I've had my thread break more with fleece than many other fabrics I use.

Best of luck!~

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Reply #2:

Use a heavy duty machine if you have one available to you because they're made for sewing on thick fabrics.

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Reply #3:

I'm not sure this will help (I'm not great on technical stuff) but try sewing on a piece of paper (along with your felt). It has often helped to sort out issues for me, especially with fabrics like fleece.

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Reply #4:

@ Monika, I think I'm okay with the thread, the machine I'm using is a brother I should post a pic. of it there's 3 dials the middle one is for stitch length, the last is for tension and the first I have no idea what it's for. I thinks it's there just to annoy me.

@ painted m. the stitch length may be the issue bc I have it on pretty short right now, so I'll go and change it and see if it helps.

@ Lauren, I didn't even think about doing that, it makes sense though.

thanks Happy

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Reply #5:

have you tried using a ball point needle?

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Reply #6:

Hi,
I sew with fleece and felt on a Brother and Kenmore..non-industrial types. I can sew denim too but with all these fabrics I first make sure I go a little slower than usual.

Second, using paper (parchment paper) underneath is a great too as Lauren said.
Third, I using a longer stitch length too, like was stated too.

If I go too fast with my speed, it seems my feed dogs can't keep up in moving my fabric along at the same pace.
I think that speed is my main thing...don't put pedal to the metal with fleece or other heavy fabrics.
Happy

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Reply #7:

try loosening the tension on your presser foot. another thing to check is make sure you have a longer or even longest stitch length. Fleece tends to stretch as it goes through your feed dogs; the top not so much. Because of its bulk and stretchiness you might want to look into an even feed foot for your machine.

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Reply #8:

Also, everyone replies are great and from what I know, the fabric will stretch a certain way a bit... that might have something to do with it. Sorry if that's not much help. I haven't used a sewing machine in years. ^^'

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