Machine skipping stitches

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As far as I tell the needle is fine, and the machine is properly threaded. It stitches together a cotton test fabric fine, but once I put on the real thing it keeps skipping stitches. The fabric is stretchy and was also a pain to cut as it kept jumping away from my scissors.

Tension needs adjusting or you need a special needle.

IIRC it's a ballpoint needle you need for stretchy fabric.

Agee with others. You need to change the needle to a stretch or ballpoint needle. Regular needles can't handle stretch fabric that well and skip stitches. It sews the cotton fine so I would say the machine is fine but the needle is wrong. Once you change it it should be fine

Ball point needle for Jersey but if it's very stretchy like lycra you need a super stretch needle janome or schmetz

Thank you for suggestions. I had switched the needle before starting, but looking at the needle now, I think the one that was in my stretch needle box was not a stretch needle... I packed away my machine for the day though, so will have another try tomorrow with a ballpoint needle. Hopefully it will work!

ball point needles and if it continues use a stretch needle. Ball point are great for cotton jersey and stretch needles are designed to prevent skipped stitches on fine, lightweight knits. Great for lycra, silk jersey and multi way stretch fabrics.

Proper confused now: what seems to work is a jeans needle... Tried jersey, stretch, changing tension rethreading the machine. Then put in a jeans needle. The machine sounds awful, like it is hammering away, but it stitches nicely... For a while... and then starts dropping stitches again, of course when am finishing off a neckline or something. What is going on???

It seems that it was the thread. I replaced it, and now it works fine. Quite extraordinary, the difference it made!

Mine is like that too, it only likes Mettler or Gutermann. I once tried some on the Moon stuff I use on my o/l and it was vv unhappy.

Mine is fussy about thread too! It likes Gutterman and Boyes unbranded 80p reels of thread, anything else it gnarls up & will NOT stitch with for more than 3-4 stitches

I've bought an unbranded 75p reel of turquoise from Fabricland to try for the Elsa dresses I'm making. I'm not convinced that I won't be trekking to the market at the weekend but worth a go.