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We have an industrial blind hemmer at work, and lately I haven’t been able to get good results with it on ANYTHING. If the fabric isn’t really heavy, it wants to gather it and make puckers at the stitching.
I used it yesterday to make a hem in a gathered skirt-I know the skirt didn’t taper at all, it was just straight panels of fabric-and it puckered. I pulled on the front and back as I would have on a regular machine, but it didn’t help much, and I don’t think I should have to do that.
The thing has a tesion adjustment, a “less/more” adjustment for how deep the “bite” is, and an adjustment for whether it takes a stitch for every revolution of the machine or every other one. What should I adjust? I’ve used a blind hemmer more than anyone else at work, so I can’t ask there, ’cause I’m the expert! *grin*
Help!
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It sounds like the machine may need a tune-up.
*Hmmm.I'll have the guy check it next time he comes...But I didn't think it had seen much hard use since the last time...
*Is there a piece of thread jammed somewhere in the works? Open the machine up as far as you can and have a good look round. Use a torch and have a pair of tweezers ready to coax out anything you find. I have no experience of this type of equipment but it is surprising how small a piece of thread or fabric can throw a sewing machine out of adjustment.
*I'll check that--But there isn't much for thread to get caught in. This machine doesn't use a bobbin, it just has a top thread and makes a chainstitch. Since I work at a costume shop and more than half of our hems are temporary alterations, I'd really like to use this machine to make the hems easy to remove.More and more, I'm wondering if the tension is just too tight. I may play with that, too. (But it won't be for a while--We're really busy and behind right now!)
*Well, one of the other sewing machines needed repair, so I asked our repairman to take a look at the blind hemmer for me. Basically it seems the stitch length was too long for the fabric weight I was using. Stitch length is, unfortunately, not user-adjustable on that machine. He shortened it, and it is much better now.
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