• Having Problems With Your Sewing Machine?
    Awake!—1984 | October 8

    • THREADING YOUR MACHINE

      First, especially if you haven’t used your machine for a while, check the threading and the needle. Which way should your needle be set? If the needle plate is on the left side of your machine, the flat side of the needle goes toward the inside, or to your right, and you thread from left to right. If the needle plate is in the front, then the flat side of the needle goes to the rear, and you thread from front to rear. There are only a few machines that are exceptions to this rule.

      Threading your machine can look difficult, but it is really simple. Start by putting the presser foot in the up position (the presser foot lever is on the left rear side of your machine). Advancing from your spool of thread, look for one or two thread guides on the left top cover. Then take the thread down to and around the tension or tension dial, making sure to catch the spring there; next, up to the thread take-up lever, through the hole in it, down through one or two more thread guides and finally through the needle. If the machine is threaded wrong, or if the needle is in backward, the thread will break or it will not form stitches.