Kandra had a question about her tension on her sewing machine —

I do have a question about sewing… About a year ago, when I was a TOTAL newbie (now i’m just 2/3 newbie)to sewing and quilting, we bought a Janome sewing machine. However, the stitches are made on the BOTTOM of the fabric… so if I were to zigzag, the stitches are underneath the fabric and stitched with the bobbin thread. All stitches are like that, so I have NO CLUE how I’m supposed to applique or use those stitches. Any ideas?

Also, bobbin tension and thread tension.. I still have problems with this. I’d love suggestions on that too! LOL

Kandra, for your basic straight and zigzag the stitches should look pretty much the same on the top and the bottom. You need to get some scraps of fabric and start experimenting! My suggestion is to start at one end of the tension spectrum, sew 6-8 inches and examine the stitches. If they are not the same change it a whole number and repeat. Keep in mind, tension is more accurate when you sew samples with 2 layers of fabric.

I took a few pictures of a sample of both stitches for you. Click to enlarge if you need to. You should notice that the front and back look mostly the same, and the tension on my zigzag looks a little tight. . .

I hope that this helps! Does anyone else have something to add?


Good luck Kandra!

Amy


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