Sewing knit fabrics - any advice?

[Tangle]

I came across a fabric sale a while back and got a whole stack of nice knitted fabrics at a bargain price of £1/m :o. I've got some patterns for simple tops and would like to have a go. BUT, the one time I tried to sew knits on my machine I got an interesting wavy effect going across the width - attractive in its place, but not something I want to achieve as standard.

I saw a suggestion on another thread to reduce the pressure on the foot - which makes sense but I don't think that's possible to do on my machine (unless I physically hold the lever up slightly, but that seems like overkill - and I'm not sure I trust myself to sew straight one handed..).

Any other suggestions on how to sew jersey and get a seam that lies flat?

Thanks :)

Are you using a ballpoint needle? Also you could try adjusting the tension slightly either way a see if that makes a difference.

Ballpoint needle,
loosen the tension on your top thread,
use a longer stitch length
use a slight zig zag stitch

The Pressure is a different thing to the tension.
The tension dial affects the reel of cotton.
The pressure affects how forcefully the dogs teeth (under the sewing foot) will move your fabric along.

For example, If you have canvas or similar heavy fabric it will require a lot more force for the machine to push it through so you would increase the pressure. If you have lightweight/thin fabric then less force is needed so lessen the pressure.

I have a Janome Combi 10 and my pressure adjuster is on the very top - vertically in line with the needle.

Your handbook will explain it much better or just experiment first on a spare piece of fabric.

I was using a Janome blue-tip (blue point? something like that...) needle, but possibly was trying to use too short a stitch and the wrong one - the tricot/3-step zigzag, and it looked like a zigzag rather than a slightly drunk straight stitch!

I'm using a Janome 109/110. I've had another look at the instruction manual but I still don't see a way to adjust the pressure on the foot - or anything on the machine that looks as though it might enable me to do so. The feed doggers can be dropped completely, but they're either "on" or "off" and nothing in between.

Hmmm - think I need to do some more playing. Any more suggestions and ideas of things to try/fiddle with gratefully received :)

I use a double needle with the stitch setting set as wide as it will go - it creates a little ridge on one side and a sort of pinched seam on the other, and it almost entirely avoids the ripple effect.