Trouble sewing knit fabric?

Q: I was trying to sew a medium weight interlock knit fabric, and my upper thread keeps breaking and jamming. I also skipped a lot of stitches, but seem to skip fewer by turning the tension WAY down. Any idea how to fix this problem? I have a ballpoint needle and all purpose thread, and am using a straight stitch on a Singer sewing machine. I also have a slight problem with the fabric bunching up. Also, is it necessary to use an elastic thread with knits?
I know the needle is in the right way, same with the thread, my machine is a student machine and very simple to use. I am using a regular foot, it is a plastic see-through one I use for quilting, I don‘t own an embroidery foot. Guess I will try redoing the bobbin thread… It just seems like the top thread gets caught somehow inside the bobbin area, that is when it breaks… It sewed a piece of cotton fabric just fine.

A: Skipped stitches are usually the result of a needle in backwards or a needle that‘s too small for the thickness of fabric being sewn. Try turning the needle around 180o and reinserting it, and then rethreading from scratch. If that doesn‘t cure it, go up a needle size. I‘m guessing an 80/12 would be about right. Breaking top threads are usually due to misthreading. Take all the thread off of the machine (spool off the spool pin, bobbin out of the bobbin case), and rethread, step by step, manual in hand. If you don‘t have a manual, see if your machine has a threading diagram on the net at least. Try your machine‘s website or http://www.circularknittingmachinesale.com Now check and see if your stitch is balanced… adjust the top tension if it isn‘t. The sweet spot should be between about 3 and 5, and if it‘s much outside that, your machine may need a trip to the sewing machine doc. Puckered seams on knits can be a stitch length problem, a top thread tension problem, a wrong foot problem (for instance, an embroidery foot vs. the standard foot), a miswound or misthreaded bobbin problem, a wrong thread problem, a foot pressure problem, and good ol‘ operator error. Here‘s a good way to figure out what‘s going on: circularknittingmachinesale.com… If I‘m going to straight stitch interlocks, I usually switch to a straight stitch foot and plate if at all possible. I also use a good quality spun polyester thread and wind the bobbin at no more than half speed, so the bobbin thread isn‘t stretched. If you don‘t have a straight stitch foot and plate, try moving the needle to the far right or left position. No, I don‘t use elastic thread on knits unless I‘m doing something different, like mock-smocking. I do tend to use my serger for a lot of knit construction (love that differential feed!), but on a sewing machine, I usually use on of the stretch stitches — even a very narrow zigzag helps. If you‘re working with a straight stitch only sewing machine, you can stretch the fabric slightly as you sew to build in a bit of stretch in a seam. You‘ll want to practice on scraps until you‘ve got the amount of stretching you need to do down pat. This is typically done only on seams that will go around the body, not vertical seams. If you‘re interested in this method, try to get hold of one of the old Stretch and Sew books from the late 60‘s or early 70‘s — that‘s how we did it before zigzags were common, and home sergers were just a pipe dream.

I have had similar problems with my overlocker. It got so frustrating I was ready to give up sewing. However I tried changing the needle thread to a different brand and have had no more problem. I was able to use the original thread in the loopers and it worked fine. You could try changing your top thread and see if that works. Good luck.