Troubleshooting Thursdays: Puckered Stitches

Sewing a seam that gathers when that is not the seam you intended to sew can make you consider if it is time to call the sewing machine repair shop.  Before you throw in the towel fabric, consider checking these possibilities first. 

1.  Check for proper threading of the machine.

It can take one small skipped step in threading a sewing machine to cause seam puckering just as skipped stitches. Your sewing machine manual will have an illustrations and instructions to properly thread you machine with upper and bobbin thread.  Some machines, like my Janome QDC machine have printed illustrations on the body of machine and bobbin cover plate for easy reference.  If you picked up a previously loved machine sewing machine that didn't come with the original sewing machine manual do an online search.  

2.  Check if the sewing machine needed is compatible for the fabric.  

Generally, light weight fabrics (crepe de chine, voile, organdy, tricot) would use a size 9 or 11 needle size.  Medium weight fabrics (linens, cotton, pique, double knits) will use a 11 or 14 needle size.   Heavy weight fabrics (denim, tweed, wool coating, and upholstery) will use a 14 or 16 needle size.  There are also specialty sewing machine needles for sewing other fabrics (leather and microfibres) available at fabric shops.  Always test needle and thread options on a small piece of fabric to select the best combination before starting a project.  

3.  Check the stitch length.

If gathers is what you want, lengthen your stitch length.  To avoid gathering and puckering at the seam making your stitch denser may be the solution.  

4.  Check the presser foot pressure.  

If you're having issues with sewing a pucker free seam it could be the amount of pressure that is being applied by your presser bar.  In general, the heavier the fabric, the more pressure you will need to let the feed dog walk the fabric through.  If the pressure is too much and you're sewing light weight fabric the feed dog cause ultimately damage your fabric. Sometimes, working with certain or many layers of fabric, simply changing your sewing machine foot can help.  Hint:  a walking foot is worth it's price!  But you can also consider an adjustment to the pressure on the presser bar.  Locate the thumb screw at the top of the pressure foot lever.  By rotating the thumb screw clockwise, you will increase the pressure.  Rotate counter clockwise to decrease the pressure.  Many modern sewing machines have a pressure adjusting lever located in the inside front door that you can be easily adjusted.  Check your sewing machine manual if this is the case.  

5.  Check the needle thread tension.  

Adjusting the needle thread tension may be required for certain types of fabric.  If the bobbin appears on the upper surface of the fabric your needle thread is too tight.  Correct this by loosening the needle thread tension.  If the needle thread appears on the underside of the fabric, your needle thread is too loose.  Therefore you should tighten the needle thread tension.  Check your sewing machine manual for adjusting your needle thread tension.

6.  Check out Bunny's comment regarding straight grain vs. cross grain below.

Thanks for sharing this one!  This makes an excellent case for testing your fabric on the sewing machine before you cut out your project.  

What to check out the other Troubleshooting Thursdays posts?  You can find a link to them here:  

• Skipped Stitches
• Broken Upper Sewing Machine Thread
• Broken Lower Sewing Machine Thread

Happy Sewing!