Sewing machine help.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I am trying to sew something with my pretty basic ikea machine. The fabric is a polyester mix satin backed crepe, dress weight.
The machine keeps glitching, the whole thing jams and there are multiple loops through the fabric at that point. Grr it is so annoying as I need to finish this dress and don’t fancy sewing the whole thing by hand. Am I doing something obviously wrong ? I grew up using an old Victorian hand machine , or hand sewing, so this sort of thing is a mystery to me.

Check your tension, that causes loops.

Ok will do, does it mean it is too tight, or too loose?

This will help. Also check your type of thread, poor quality doesn't help with a silky fabric

Is it stretchy material, perhaps you need a specific needle.

No it isn’t stretchy. Maybe I do need different thread. I bought the thread with the fabric, it is on a large spool, so I’m not sure how high quality it is.
I’m about to look at that diagram. Thank you for this help everyone.

If there are looks behind your bobbin and needle are different tensions.
W8tu silky fabric a longer stitch might help as this stuff can pucker.
For a begin er stick with cotton for a start. Get to g frustrated doesn't help with conf8dence

Is there a Handbook?

Try YouTube for tutorials. I learned loads from it

Don’t have a handbook. It seems to be behaving now, I haven’t finished it yet though ! Good idea to look at YouTube, I never think of that ( middle aged ) 🙂

I think a satin backed crepe needs a ball point needle. It pulls quite easily.

With regards to loops, usually means tension is wrong, check the spook is in the right way round if you can’t see any other obvious problems

I’ll check the spool, thank you. I’ve never heard of a ball point needle, I’ll get one. The fabric isn’t puckering, just every now and again the thread clogs the area below the needle, where the bobbin thread comes up, and the needle jams after producing multiple loops in the same place on the fabric ( rather than a running stitch of big loops, if that makes sense ) .

Only use a ball point needle is sewing jersey - tshirt fabric

I teach textiles. Such fun when 23 kids jam the machine simultaneously😖

Bitter bitter experience has taught me that any sort of jamming/looping/behaving like an arse is spool related.

That’s the machine behaving like an arse, not the kids!!!! Although.......

Spool related. I’ve looked at the spool, I can’t see anything abnormal. Sometimes sewing machines annoy me so much I end up sewing entire thingsby hand as I can’t take the frustration. Is this sort of thing less common with a more expensive machine ?
I’ve just been sewing the chiffon section with no glitches, I have to hem by hand but it did the seams without protest. Last time I used it I kept breaking needles on cartridge pleating, so wrecked my fingers doing it by hand instead.

I gave up with my granny's hand machine for the same reason. I think it is difficult to balance the thread tension. I expect a shop could have improved it, but I bought a Janome and never regretted it. It works every time.

This is the basic Ikea one. It seems ok, but I’ve never used a very expensive machine. I wonder what the difference is ? Should I splash out .

Ooh , did not know Ikea did sewing machines. Bought dd a basic JL one a couple of years ago and it does not work.

It has a few different stitches, seems good for such a cheap machine.

At the risk of telling you how to suck eggs, have you checked you’ve threaded the machine correctly?

Best thing when seeing chiffon is to put a layer of tissue paper in between. Makes for much better sewing

Janome are great and a basic 9 e starts at 90.00 or thereabouts. Worth every penny. Reliable. Easy to use. Save yourself the bother and pat a few extra bob and enjoy the sewing rather than fight I g with a mach8ne

Yes, threaded properly. Not unreasonable to mention it as I might well have got it wrong. 🙂
I know the tissue tip as I had nightmares trying to sew tulle for a dress for dd until I found out about tissue paper. This chiffon actually seems fine without it, and lots of the chiffon needs hand sewing anyway ( rolled edges etc ).
Machine seems to be behaving now. I have no idea what made the difference !