tension issues

[Patricia S.]

Hello Everyone who is doing this BOM. I am on the scalloped border and doing the applique in the corner blocks, however, I'm using monofilament thread on the top and white in the bobbin. My problem is the white is peaking through the top. I'm using a Bernina 440. Have been playing with the tension, changed the needle, and its still happening. Need you input. Thanks Pat

[Nancy R.]

If the bobbin thread is peeking through on the top, then your top tension is too tight. You need to either loosen your top tension or increase your bobbin tension. You usually want to start with the top tension, but if you have to make it too loose to get a good stitch then you'll have to increase the tension in your bobbin case.

Note that sometimes it's not just the tension disks that are causing the extra tension on the top. You sometimes have to look for other factors. For example, the Superior monofilament thread comes on a really heavy spool. I've never understood why they do that. I used to have terrible trouble getting the tension right until I realized that this spool was increasing the tension on the thread. I moved the spool off of the spindle and onto an off-machine thread holder and put a thread sock around the spool to keep the thread from pooling around the spool and catching on things and that fixed my tension problems. I've also found that with monofilament thread, if I run the thread through a packing peanut before it goes through the thread guide in the thread holder, that keeps the thread from kinking up, which monofilament thread likes to do.

[Renata L.]

Never thought of the packing peanut, Nancy, but will definitely keep it in mind if I run into trouble.

I was having problems with monofilament tension until someone mentioned to me that they changed their upper thread tension to 1.5, a lot lower than I would have ever thought of changing it to (I went as far as 2.0 on my Bernina 830). But, at 1.5, my tension problems went away and I had great stitch quality. It may not work for you, but it certainly is worth a try!

[Rita C.]

I have found that reducing my top tension to about 1.75 or 1.50 really helps. I also use an external thread cone rather than the ones on the machine and I put a thread sock on the thread. But I use a cotton thread sock. What I actually use is a tubular finger bandage roll and just cut about 2" off it and warp that around the thread. If you don't have a thread cone then sellotape a paper clip or safety pin to the back of your machine near the top right and run the thread through that as well as all the other tension areas on the machine. Mono-poly likes to come straight up off the spool and across the machine rather than just across the top of the machine where the spool pins are. You might need to adjust your top tension until you no longer see the bottom thread coming through. Also what thickness of thread are you using in the bobbin? I think a 50 or 60wt cotton thread like Aurifil or Presencia work best with the mono-poly. And when you start and finish you will need to do about 6 or 8 tiny stitches to secure the threads if you are not going to knot and bury them because the mono-poly unravels very easily. Hope that helps.

[Charae H.]

Hey, Rita! Nice to see you here!

[Rita C.]

Nice to see you too Charae! :cheer:

[Patricia S.]

Thank you everyone for your information. This is what I did! Lowered the top tension to 1.5, took the thread and put it in a cup, put a sock on it, increased the bobbin tension and threaded it through the eye. Boy it's sewing beautifully now! Thanks again to everyone who helped me out! Now to finish this round LOL! Pat