Stitching Pattern and Quality

[Petrops]

I am really new to both a saddle and a sewing machine. So I have a significant interest in learning all I can before hoisting my pittard 20' in the air trusting my own rookie work. I figured I may not be alone in this insecurity so I wanted to start a thread where we could get some feedback on our work. I am sure that others have questions about stitch patterns, stitches per inch etc. I have seen answers distributed as part of larger threads but thought I would start this one focused on stitching itself.

One particular question I have right now is:

"Is my tension correct?"

I saw the great diagram that showed 3 views of tension and I get the basic idea that the tension should be set so that the lock between threads is in the middle of the material sandwich. I have seen other examples where tension problems are displayed as more dramatic examples of significant differences between the top and bottom stitching with loose threads, rats nests etc. I am wondering how precise the need is to get a perfect balance between top and bottom thread so that the lock is exactly in the middle.

You can see a couple of photos here where my bottom thread is not visible from the top and the top thread is visible from the bottom. While the bottom thread is clearly pulled up by the top thread a bit, it is clearly not pulled to the center. My immediate assumption is that I need to increase the tension of my top thread. No matter how I tighten the tension on the top thread I cannot get this to move. Can someone weigh in on what they see here? Is it within acceptable tolerances?

I would also love any feedback on the quality of the stitching and whether or not this pattern is the right pattern / spacing / span to use where maximum strength is required.

 

[LeanMachine]

Stitch length and tension look acceptable as best as i can tell from pics. The strongest possible stitch will be with them locked in the middle. The weakest would be when say bottom thread lays flat all the way down the fabric because the top thread is not pulling it in. I dont mind seeing the top thread peak out on the bottom on the occasional stitch but i don't like to see a run of it. On thin fabrics, like ripstop, you will see the lock on the top and bottom because the fabric is not thick enough to hide it. In that case, just try to get them balanced so the top looks same as bottom.

You are not getting the top thread to suck in from the bottom side because your home machine is not capable of providing enough top tension for the thickness of fabric you are sewing. If you are mechanically inclined you can disassemble the tension mechanism and figure out how to mod it. Some have a stop that will not allow you to turn the knob further. That can be removed. You can also add a stiffer spring.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Petrops]

Thanks Lean. I am using a pretty heavy duty machine (Singer 111W-151) so I should be able to hit the tension requirement. I will try cranking the top thread tension even more.

Note: I should have labeled these. Silver is top (spool) thread and Tan is bottom (bobbin) thread The Silver top thread is not sucking up the Tan bobbin thread. While it does look like the bobbin tension is sucking the top thread down, oddly when I pull manually on the bobbin and spool threads, the bobbin seems to have far less tension than the spool thread.

Perhaps this is where some form of wax threading would be of benefit?

 

[LeanMachine]

Oh yeah that machine will give you plenty of tension. I have a 111w153 that i use for my heavy duty work.

I know what you mean about the bobbin tension feeling really loose. Mine is the same across several machines. I can not explain why. Maybe someone else can.

Also it looks like you are sewing a loosely woven polypro webbing. Sometimes it can make your seams look weird because some stitches disappear into it depending on direction of seam. Typically that stuff does not require nearly as much tension as as say a 17337 nylon webbing.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[LeanMachine]

Also if you buy bonded thread it is already "lubricated". My 111w153 originally had a lube pad the thread was pulled over. That is not necessary with modern bonded thread.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Ed the Red]

Lean explained great. Something I found was making sure your needle was large enough. I use a singer 15-91 machine and at least a #18 needle for T90 thread for multiple layers of webbing.

 

[Mike Nutto]

Also if you buy bonded thread it is already "lubricated". My 111w153 originally had a lube pad the thread was pulled over. That is not necessary with modern bonded thread.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I'm wondering about weather this machine could handle doing the heavy duty work.
It's one of my mother's she is a seamstress , but she has never made anything like a saddle. She knows all the stitches , she has been at it forever. Though even to a person who sees these machines can be a mystery. I'm just wondering because she would flip if I asked her to teach me. I'm also interested in trying my hand at sewing. This machine is high speed, but I have a feeling it may be very adjustable but I could be wrong

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

 

[LeanMachine]

I'm wondering about weather this machine could handle doing the heavy duty work.
It's one of my mother's she is a seamstress , but she has never made anything like a saddle. She knows all the stitches , she has been at it forever. Though even to a person who sees these machines can be a mystery. I'm just wondering because she would flip if I asked her to teach me. I'm also interested in trying my hand at sewing. This machine is high speed, but I have a feeling it may be very adjustable but I could be wrong

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

Im pretty sure that machine would work well for a saddle. It probably has a clutch motor. They are crazy fast and hard to control for a novice. I spent 80-100 bucks on a servo motor for mine. Now i can make it sew super slow.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Nutto]

Yes it

Im pretty sure that machine would work well for a saddle. It probably has a clutch motor. They are crazy fast and hard to control for a novice. I spent 80-100 bucks on a servo motor for mine. Now i can make it sew super slow.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Yes she has another but not as heavy duty. It is a fast machine can suck your finger in, so the motor servo is the key

 

[Mike Nutto]

there is a lot to learn but hey that is part of life

 

[Homebrew454]

I'm wondering about weather this machine could handle doing the heavy duty work.
It's one of my mother's she is a seamstress , but she has never made anything like a saddle. She knows all the stitches , she has been at it forever. Though even to a person who sees these machines can be a mystery. I'm just wondering because she would flip if I asked her to teach me. I'm also interested in trying my hand at sewing. This machine is high speed, but I have a feeling it may be very adjustable but I could be wrong

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

Yes it should. It is in an industrial machine and sounds like a good 1 from what I read. I also agree in the servo motor will be well worth the upgrade.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[Petrops]

I am sure there are lots of servo motors out there. Here is the one I just picked up for my old Singer to replace that enormous and scary fast clutch motor. https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-CSM1000-Machine-SM550-1-PLKHG484UY5151/dp/B016EJ1WB6 It bolted right into the table in no time and works wonderfully. At its slowest speed I can control it almost as well as I can by hand. One nice feature is that the control is separate from the motor so it can be mounted in a convenient spot. Enjoy your machine.

 

[Petrops]

@ckossuth I saw your stitching on your Versa Straps goes right around the edge of the strap rather than starting and stopping short of the edge.

Is there an advantage to that, and if so, how do you do that on a straight stitch machine?

If you ever have a chance to post a / some video(s) of some of your work I am sure we would all get a lot out of it.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Petrops]

Carl has an interesting stitch on his Versastraps. It seems to wrap around the strap rather than stopping short of each edge. Does anyone know if there is specific value in that method and, if there is, how to do it on a straight stitch machine?

 

[Squirrels]

Carl has an interesting stitch on his Versastraps. It seems to wrap around the strap rather than stopping short of each edge. Does anyone know if there is specific value in that method and, if there is, how to do it on a straight stitch machine? View attachment 10719

It keeps the edges pinched tight. No special method, just go back and forth.

 

[LeanMachine]

Yea you just make a stitch past the edge of material before reversing. Not necessary but it does add some strength.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Petrops]

Yea you just make a stitch past the edge of material before reversing. Not necessary but it does add some strength.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks Squirrels and Lean. The idea of going beyond the material and sewing into 'nothing' is not intuitive but makes sense once I think about it.

 

[Squirrels]

Thanks Squirrels and Lean. The idea of going beyond the material and sewing into 'nothing' is not intuitive but makes sense once I think about it.

Dont think of it as sewing into nothing. Think of more as letting the needle drop just past the material, and I mean just barely clear it before changing directions and getting back on the material.

 

[Petrops]

Dont think of it as sewing into nothing. Think of more as letting the needle drop just past the material, and I mean just barely clear it before changing directions and getting back on the material.

Well I think I have it........ but it still feels like sewing into nothing. I have a single stitch machine with no reverse so getting past the material and then pivoting on the needle just seems to be sooooo sloppy that I expect to have lots of slack in the stitch. But these look like they are pretty tight. I am sure once I actually start to bond with my machine I will come to understand the mechanics of how that lock can happen in the stitch even without material to go through. For now it is one of the great mysteries of life.

 

[LeanMachine]

Yea the tension to the lock is applied as the needle comes back up, so you can have slop as you spin material and not have any ill effects.

The needle drops down and in the bottom position the hook comes around and grabs the top thread. The take up lever lowers to release to top thread tension to give sone slack to allow that to happen. That little notch above the eye of the needle is where the hook passes. The hook carries the top thread around the bobbin and bobbin thread. The takeup lever then pulls the slack out as the needle rises. So imagine you have bottom thread coming out past the end of material. The top thread reaches down and around that bottom thread and comes back up. If you just stopped there, that stitch would come undone but when you return into the fabric with the next stitch, it gets locked into place.

You can get about the same level of stength, while not exposing that last stitch to potential abrasion on the edge, by just dropping your last stitch in the very edge of the fabric before turning around. If the stitch does not fall their naturally, just lift the presser foot with needle raised and postition fabric so the needle will come down in the last bit of fabric.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk