This was an obvious signal that I needed to do some trouble-shooting. I had been changing out my needle regularly, so I knew that wasn't the problem. I also hadn't switched thread types or the tension settings.
I realized that I've been sewing with a lot of linty fabrics lately. Flannel, fleece, bamboo velour, cotton velour, zorb, toweling, and the like. And of course, that's going to create a lot of lint and dust inside my machine. I remembered it's been a while since I last cleaned out my machine, and that's one of the quickest ways to get my tension wrecked.
So I cracked that puppy open and went to work. And here's how:
My sewing machine came with a little baggy of parts, as do most machines these days. You may have seen some of the pieces and wondered what they were for. That little disc-washer-looking thing is actually a screwdriver. It's just the right size for reaching the little screws that hold the plate in place that goes over your feed dogs. After removing the needle and the whole presser foot apparatus to get them out of the way, I used the little screwdriver disc to remove those two screws, and then the metal and plastic pieces of the plate there.
The other important piece of equipment here is that little paint brush. It's a magical little lint brush. I don't know how the magic works, but instead of pushing the lint around inside the machine, you actually use it to grab and lift the fluff out of the nooks and crannies. You don't want to just push the lint down farther into the machine.
Once I got the plate off of my machine, I discovered that it was just full of lint. Of course. So the next thing I did was to pull out the bobbin housing (is that what it's called?). It's that black plastic piece in the middle there, that holds the bobbin and directs the thread. Mine just lifts right out. I gave that a good cleaning with my handy lint brush. Once that was cleaned, I went to town for over a half an hour, cleaning every little crevice my brush could reach. It was so bad!! Look how much lint I got out of there!
Now, the thing is, you can certainly buy some canned air from the office supply or the fabric store. The thing with canned air though, is instead of getting all of that lint out of the machine, it just blows it down further inside it. That's a problem. If that lint is already gumming up the works, what would happen if you just blast it down in there? And what if you were to keep blowing more lint in? Sewing machines are full of sensitive parts, and mine has lots of electronic bits. I just don't want to mess with that jazz.
So this is how it looked once I got everything all cleaned out. So much better! I certanily could have used a small screwdriver to take more of those pieces out and clean a little deeper, but frankly that just freaks me out. I don't want to break anything. I'm sure it's fine for someone who is more confident with machinery, but I'm just not. Instead, I plan to take it in for some maintenance one of these days to get everything all squeaky clean and oiled. Until that time, this is a good way to keep things running smoothly. One other tip is to pull out your camera and take a picture or two of things as you take them apart, so you know you're putting them back together properly.
Once I had removed all the lint I could, I put the bobbin case holder thing back inside and turned the flywheel to make sure it all still moved properly. Then I plates back on and tightened the screws with my little screwdriver.
I replaced the needle and presser foot, and gave it all a test run with thread in the machine, and tada! Everything was back to normal.
I first learned how to clean my machine by watching a video by So Sew Easy, which you can watch yourself here.
Just remember to be careful and slow as you go, and don't force anything to move if it's resisting you. And keep in mind that cleaning your own machine is by no means a replacement for regular professional maintenance, but it will save you a lot of aggravation in between tune-ups.
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