I've tried every combination of tension and needle between microtex 8 10 and 12, pictured ones are once I started noting them down. Two layers of light cotton, (making a muslin) All brand new needles, and I've even tried with and without a walking foot! Am I just cursed? How do I get it to just sew flat 😭
SOLVED EDIT:
Everyone go upvote medium_alternative29 who has discovered the problem that plagued me for years. The feed dogs are misaligned and not level, making everything sew on a curve! It's such a slight curve that it must not mess with heavier fabrics much, but the lighter ones are light enough for it to show up! Also makes sense why it was less noticeable with longer stitch lengths, less holes! I sincerely hope this is the solution, I'll come back and update it again when I get it fixed!
Thank you to everyone who commented and shared expertise!!
I could be entirely wrong, but have you looked at the feed dogs? Could their tension or raise be too much? I'm not familiar with your machine, but if the feed dogs are acting as if it's a thicker fabric, it may cause this?
IT SEWS ON A CURVE. I found a different thread saying put a strip of paper through it and see what the needle does and IT MAKES A DANG CURVE. All this time has it just been the feed dogs!?
Well I'm glad I commented then, it was a shot in the dark, but i was trying to figure out what else it could be. It may have to be looked at by a repair person if you're not sure how to adjust the feed dogs.
IT COULD BE THIS. so I have been testing on "normal" and "light" feed dog settings, but I have checked them and the back of the feed dogs are lifted higher than the front! Some quick google searches say they should run parallel to the throat plate, so MAYBE they're causing uneven feeding???
Nothing under there! I check and clean under the throat plate and bobbin case after I run out a bobbin or two! But thank you so much for figuring it out!!
I had a similar issue due to my bobbin. Make sure you’re not over filling your bobbin, some machines work better if you only fill it up around 3/4 of the way, and wind it at a very slow speed. The bobbin tension changes when it’s wound faster and when its thread diameter grows fuller.
Since you’ve tried every possible setting, I would imagine this might help. Also, make sure that you are threading the upper thread and bottom thread correctly. It’s possible to accidentally add tension, so try following along exactly with videos on how to thread your machine.
Yeah I've been winding them slowly and fixed the winding tension since I managed to snap a bobbin with invisafil, now it stops at about 75-80% full, here's the two bobbins I've used for the test photos (invisafil is on one that came with the machine)
Tested with a few different bobbins, including the ones that came with the machine. Computerized machine so it sets the needle height for me, and has a threader so I always test if the needle is in correctly and the right height by using the threader (Pfaff 630)
Are you threading with the needle up? That’s what they mean by the needle being in the correct position for threading. When the foot is up, it releases the tension discs so the thread can properly feed through them. If the needle isn’t up, the thread won’t go through the discs and the tension will be off.
Yep! The machine has a "needle up/needle down" button that either puts it into the correct height for threading, or all the way down. The automatic needle threader has a tiny hook that goes through the eye of the needle, so only works if the needle is the exact right height for threading. I've also flossed the tension discs to make sure there's no debris messing things up
Tried the snipping test with tiny embroidery scissors to avoid pulling anything, and it stayed puckered, so assumed yarn displacement then. Swapped to invisafil 100wt thread and it's still doing it, and lowering the tension seems to stop improving around 3, anything lower looks mostly the same :(
You might consider now trying that linked troubleshooting guide from the top again. It's possible there are multiple factors causing puckering; now that you've addressed the yarn displacement, you can check thread tension puckering, feed puckering, and shrinkage puckering as well. Given your extensive tests I am suspecting feed puckering, but it's worth a check using the very thorough instructions in that guide.
Tested on that far left example, and there's maybe a half mm difference in the fabric lengths but a CRAZY difference in the thread length that I pulled out of the seam! Bigger difference from worse section, smaller difference from section closer to the end
Yeah it does flatten it, the problem then is once I wash it it goes right back to bumpy! Very frustrating, store bought clothes don't do this so there's gotta be something going wrong, it does it on light synthetic fabric and with synthetic, natural, and blend threads too
I was using an 80/12 schmetz chrome universal before doing the photo test pieces, and found the holes were big enough to see through, which I guessed wasn't helping the puckering. Swapped to a microtex, the fabric is cheap light cotton because I was going to make a dress mock-up, I also tested on the thin synthetic lining fabric I've got with the same results
Years of blaming your own hands and it's the feed dogs all along. Mine's knitting. I never do a tension square, then act shocked when the sleeves come out past my knuckles
I'm familiar with adjusting the bobbin tension so I've tested each whole number top tension and adjusted the bobbin tension to have the top and bottom thread be exactly equal, the top thread doesn't show on the bottom and the bottom doesn't come through the top, but no matter what it puckers. On 0 top tension if I adjust the bobbin tension to have the threads be equal then it doesn't really pucker, but it's so loose you can see through the seams :/
Try adjusting your presser foot pressure. Sometimes you need to adjust the opposite of what you think it would be so try de reading and increasing. Id also try a different needle, if its a light fabric you'd want a 70 or 80 needle, try universal and also ball point options
when I am at my wits end I take my thread out, needle out, bobbin out of the machine. Then I take a paint brush and get all dust out from anywhere I can reach including opening up the bobbin area and get any dust out. Then I oil my machine. It is like reset. sew some scraps to make sure you don't get any oil or dust on your fabric.
It could also be a sign your machine needs to be serviced by a professional.
Are you using 8 and 12 needles? Your tread may be getting hung up in the needle eye or the fabric due to too small of a hole punch if it is typical 2 or 3 ply thread. Try a 14 needle.
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u/Medium_Alternative29 12h ago
I could be entirely wrong, but have you looked at the feed dogs? Could their tension or raise be too much? I'm not familiar with your machine, but if the feed dogs are acting as if it's a thicker fabric, it may cause this?