Sewing machine jamming is such an annoying thing to happen, especially when you’re in the middle of the creative process and you don’t want to stop. Well, that’s usually when the machine decides to stop. There are many reasons why this could be happening and we will get over most of them here. We are also going to offer a couple of solutions that could be useful for future situations with sawing machine jamming.

The needle won’t move

Reasons for the needle to be stuck and won’t move in the middle of the sawing are several. Starting with the needle may be being set in the wrong place to the wrong size of the needle. It can also be a disconnected clutch or a driver belt may be broken.

To resolve the clutch problem, check if its hand wheel is free. It can happen that the machine is not in sewing mode. After you’ve checked handwheel you need to push the sewing machine’s bobbin winder which is on the left side. This should solve the clutch problem and get the machine in bobbin winder mode.

If the drive belt is broken it would need to be replaced since there is no other solution to that.

When there’s a problem with the wrong size of the needle you just need to adjust needle size to the thickness of the fabric. You need a bigger needle for thicker fabrics and smaller for thin ones.

Skipped stitches 

When the wrong type of needle is used sewing machine starts skipping stitches. The type of the needle needs to fit the type of fabric that you’re sewing. Use a rule of thumb that says that a ballpoint needle is used for knit fabric and a sharp needle is used for woven fabric.

Also, make sure that you are not forcing the fabric to the machine but allowing it to feed the fabric. If you force fabric into the machine constantly needle will keep breaking.

Another reason why your machine might be skipping stitches is a bent needle which also happens because of fabric being forced instead of letting the machine feed it on its own.

Motor function failing

Motor misfunction can be caused by motor belt issues or electrical parts damage. You will recognize this problem by a motor having trouble to start or failing to do so or suddenly stopping to work completely.

What you can do is check the motor belt and have it replaced if needed. Make sure that you unplug the sewing machine before you get into investigating what might be wrong. Check the wires between the foot pedal and the motor. Usually, that’s where the problem and you will find damaged, loose or broken wires. You can use the multimeter to determine wire connections and if those are bad the foot pedal needs replacement.

The motor belt doesn’t have to be broken, it could be that it’s just too tight which you will know by hearing it making a humming noise and having trouble running. You can fix this by cleaning and oiling the motor belt.

Repeated breaking of the thread

Make sure that thread is put into the needle nicely. If there are threading issues, that might obstruct machine functioning. If a thread is not held properly by a laser cord or spool, it might not be able to move. Choose the needle with a larger eye. That will prevent thread breaking under the changing tension.

The machine won’t take fabric in

This can happen for several reasons. It could be entangled threads, thread tension, stitch length, or a position of a foot pedal.

Rethread your machine and make the thread loose. If after that machine still won’t feed the fabric, raise and adjust the dog feeds to a different height. Check the foot pedal is raised before sewing. This will allow feed dogs to take in fabric properly.

Stich lengths should be adjusted to the sewing, so if you’re doing stitch buttonholes often, try 0 length instead of 2 or 3.

Stuck sewing machine

Your machine can get stuck at maximum speed or on sewing backward. It is a very frustrating experience but there is a solution.

For the machine stuck on sewing backward you need to check if the feed dog got stuck in reverse. This is easily solved by cleaning leftover dirt, threads, and lint and checking if the feed dog is raised enough for your type of fabric.

Also, don’t forget to check if the machine is turned to reverse settings. Turn off the machine and make sure that levers are not used. It can also help to keep the bobbin clean.

When it comes to sewing machines being stuck at maximum speed, this could be really problematic even for experienced sewers. First, check if anything is stuck in your foot pedal since that can cause the speed to go higher. If all dirt, lint, and debris are cleaned from the foot pedal, then it’s a most certainly problem with a motor. If that’s the case, you can’t solve it on your own, you need professional help to fix the motor.

Stuck handwheel

When your handwheel is stuck there might be several reasons but non is that it’s normal. Make sure that fabric, threat, or the needle are not stuck in the sewing machine. Tangled thread causes this very often so you need to check if it’s going smooth all the way. If this is the problem, rethread t the machine. If none of this helps, you need to call a professional machine service to check your handwheel and identify the problem.

If you’re looking to buy a new machine or you’re just starting sewing and not sure where to begin here you can find handheld Brother sewing machines. Stay safe when fixing problems with your machine and always turn it off before doing so. Some problems just can’t be addressed and fixed at home so calling a professional will save you plenty of time and nerves. Still, teach yourself to deal with daily machine misfunctions since it can be something small lie thread stuck and tangled and you don’t want to waste time on calling someone when you can fix this easily yourself. Good luck with your sewing creative projects!