First DIY... failing at sewing ripstop

[AlexV]

Hi all,

Finally trying my hand at DIY! I thought this was going to be a piece of cake... wrong. I'm practicing on a few scraps and can't seem to get the hang of lock stitching. For some reason they come up looking like the attached pic.

A little background:
I'm using a new 70 universal needle, Mara 70 thread and I'm sewing 1.6 hexon using a J presser foot. The picture is of the bottom face of the fabric.

Should I be using a larger needle? Or perhaps this is a tension issue? I'm not sure if this is the case as the rest of the stitches look alright to me

Many, many thanks.

[XJ35S]

looks like it dog tracked when you reversed. The lock stitch should be right on the stitch. The loose loop isn't a big deal I pull the reads tight before cutting the tails off.

[jellyfish]

Is this the bobbin-aide that I'm looking at?

Size 70 is a 10 needle. That might actually be too small.

Do the thread test that I demonstrate at the 2 1/2-min mark on my treestrap vid

https://youtu.be/u1JL_e2SwkU


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[AlexV]

Is this the bobbin-aide that I'm looking at?

Size 70 is a 10 needle. That might actually be too small.

Do the thread test that I demonstrate at the 2 1/2-min mark on my treestrap vid

https://youtu.be/u1JL_e2SwkU


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Thanks, Jelly! I gave it a try and switched to a 90/14 needle and it slides much better. Unfortunately, I'm still getting those loops on the bobbin side of the fabric. I'm even holding the tail ends of the threads before I start but it doesn't seem to help. Any other thoughts? Perhaps the presser foot?

[StandingBear]

Keep practicing! You will figure it all out. I can tell you from personal experience, even after trying to complete multiple stuff sacks and other miscellaneous projects I still wanted to throw my thread injector against the wall. It seemed as though I was spending more time ripping stitches than sewing. I almost gave it up, I even put the thing away for a few weeks. I then decided that I was not going to be beat by the thread injector. I watched a few videos by Jellyfish and got back to work. After a few months of playing around, I am getting much better and faster. I just made an 11' tarp sleeve out of 1.1 silpoly with cord locks on both ends in about 30 minutes total. Good luck and keep practicing.

[jellyfish]

This is the tension. It may take some fiddling to get it right, but don't be dismayed.

This vid has pretty much everything you need to know about sewing tension. It may be worth a look.

https://youtu.be/YSSHUjOsVUw


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[jellyfish]

Keep practicing! You will figure it all out. I can tell you from personal experience, even after trying to complete multiple stuff sacks and other miscellaneous projects I still wanted to throw my thread injector against the wall. It seemed as though I was spending more time ripping stitches than sewing. I almost gave it up, I even put the thing away for a few weeks. I then decided that I was not going to be beat by the thread injector. I watched a few videos by Jellyfish and got back to work. After a few months of playing around, I am getting much better and faster. I just made an 11' tarp sleeve out of 1.1 silpoly with cord locks on both ends in about 30 minutes total. Good luck and keep practicing.

Omg this is awesome!! Wtg!


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[jellyfish]

What is the tension on your machine now? Is it lower than 4?


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[AlexV]

Keep practicing! You will figure it all out. I can tell you from personal experience, even after trying to complete multiple stuff sacks and other miscellaneous projects I still wanted to throw my thread injector against the wall. It seemed as though I was spending more time ripping stitches than sewing. I almost gave it up, I even put the thing away for a few weeks. I then decided that I was not going to be beat by the thread injector. I watched a few videos by Jellyfish and got back to work. After a few months of playing around, I am getting much better and faster. I just made an 11' tarp sleeve out of 1.1 silpoly with cord locks on both ends in about 30 minutes total. Good luck and keep practicing.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I definitely get that "throw it against a wall" feeling

[AlexV]

What is the tension on your machine now? Is it lower than 4?


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Tension is actually right at 5 and it seemed like the loops were getting smaller. I think I need to rewatch some of your videos!