basic sewing help please!

[renee84]

The other day I bought a brother sewing machine, but having problems getting it to sew The needles either goes up and down while fabric moves but just makes holes, or the thread all bundles up on the underside of the fabric, and then by miracle it does sew,it it is really loose and oulls back out i have tried changing the tension and holding the thread and fabric tight but it still happens. Do I need to tie a knot in the thread, any help please!

[~Raven~]

No knots!
What brand is it. Mine is a Janome. All the brands do things a little differently but this may help if it's not a Janome machine.

Did you check your bobbin? Maybe pull it out and redo it. Sometimes mine does that if the bobbin thread has not caught onto the groove properly. Hard to explain but the bobbin drops in and the thread gets pulled sideways into a "nick" in the bobbin holder which acts like a guide/tension device. Also if I don't concentrate I've put the bobbin in so it it feeds out the wrong way, ie mine has to turn anti clockwise and I have put it in upside down and it feeds clockwise which makes a hash of it.

Are the little dogs going up and down? (the grips that move the fabric along). Maybe watch it go up and down without the needle threaded to see.

Set the tension back to neutral. Check your book but I think that would be about 4-5 on the dial and use a thin piece of cotton folded in half to see if it's sewing alright once you're retreaded.

If you're having major problems like that call the place where you bought it and have a chat to the staff. Hopefully it's something small and they will help you to sort it out.

[renee84]

Thanks Raven, will try all of that and see how I go, I know it would most likely be something simple, just need to figure it out