Skipped Stitches When Sewing Through Many Layers

[Claire C.]

Recently, I decided to make oven mitts for my co-workers for Christmas. The pattern was simple, and I thought, "No problem!" The pattern calls for two layers of batting - one of cotton batting, one of insulated batting. I used Insul-Bright. All was well until I tried to sew the back and front of the first mitt together. My machine was skipping more stitches than it actually sewed! I was using a Top Stitch 90/14 needle and King Tut thread. I tried a jeans needle, a quilting needle, rethreading, all to no avail. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. Christmas is closing in! :shock:

[Terry K.]

You might try an even larger top stitch needle. . .100/16. . . to see if that makes a difference.

[Claire C.]

Thanks, Terry. I will definitely try that.

[Kathryn S.]

Hi, I had some problems like that when quilting with heavier thread on batik. I tried the larger needle,
which didn't help me much. I use a Janome 6600 and it didn't give me any problems with 50 wt thread.
The Sulky website had a comment that the quilter had to make the needle tension higher so I tried that.
Believe it or not, that made a big difference. I also noticed that when I quilt with my new quilting foot, I
get a lot of skipping but when I use the original foot, I don't get much. The newer foot doesn't hold the fabric
down enough when the needle moves up out of the fabric.
My Mom made a pot holder with Insulbright this week, hand quilted it and had a hard time getting the needle through
all the layers. She used a big sturdy needle too.
Hope you find the answer, I know how frustrating this is!
Kathy

[Norma H.]

I put an answer in your other post. Very much related to answers here

[Hannelore N.]

What foot are you using? I always use a walking foot when I sew through something quite thick.

[Claire C.]

I've tried all the suggestions here and in the machine piecing forum, and none of them has worked. However, taking another look at the pattern, I think the idea was that the Insulbright was supposed to be cut a bit smaller than the fabric or the cotton batting, so that when the back and front of the mitt were sewn together, the stitches would be going through four layers of fabric and two of cotton batting, but not through the Insulbright. Kind of a "duh" moment, but we all have them, right? ops: