Tension question

Hello,

I am trying to make a homemade dog collar. I have all the supplies
needed, however I can't seem to get the tension/stitch length right.
The hemp ribbing is pretty thick and I bought some clear nylon thread
to stitch it. However, the thread keeps snapping. I am using a size 16
needle. I plan to buy some cotton thread, hoping that will help, but I
am a beginner and would like some insight into suggested tension and
other settings for this project.

I appreciate all insight.

thanks,
Lisa

Perhaps a size 18 needle and loosen the bobbin tension just a tiny bit and
the thread tension as well, but just a tiny bit at a time,try it and see
what happens. Also, polyester/cotton thread is probably better.
Emily

My guess is the material is far to heavy for your home sewing machine.
Monofilament is the devils work, just plain nasty stuff.

--
Ron Anderson
A1 Sewing Machine
PO Box 60
Sand Lake, NY 12153
518-469-5133
http://www.a1sewingmachine.com
"Lisae1" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,

I am trying to make a homemade dog collar. I have all the supplies
needed, however I can't seem to get the tension/stitch length right.
The hemp ribbing is pretty thick and I bought some clear nylon thread
to stitch it. However, the thread keeps snapping. I am using a size 16
needle. I plan to buy some cotton thread, hoping that will help, but I
am a beginner and would like some insight into suggested tension and
other settings for this project.

I appreciate all insight.

thanks,
Lisa

CypSew wrote:
Perhaps a size 18 needle and loosen the bobbin tension just a tiny bit and
the thread tension as well, but just a tiny bit at a time,try it and see
what happens. Also, polyester/cotton thread is probably better.
Emily



If you start playing with the bobbin tension, you may never get it back
where it belongs, and that will cost you a trip to your dealer. Better
to buy an extra bobbin case for special projects. Bobbin tension
adjustments are very sensitive - often one eigth of a turn is too much.

Roger.

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 09:43:40 GMT, "Ron Anderson"
wrote:


My guess is the material is far to heavy for your home sewing machine.
Monofilament is the devils work, just plain nasty stuff.

There's gadget called a sewing awl for just such projects.
It's a heavy-duty sewing-machine needle in a pin vice that
has a nice fat handle that you can push with your whole
hand.

If it's not quite *that* hard, you can get a heavy-duty
thimble at a quilter's store.

I've heard of a gadget called a "sailor's palm" for pushing
needles through canvas and leather, but I've never seen one.

Google turned up an astonishing number of hits, but not one
offer to *sell* a sailor's palm! I did learn that they come
in "seaming palms" and the heavier-duty "roping palm".
Adding "seaming palm" to the search criteria brought the
hits down to three, and the third one mentioned two sites
that sell palms. $14 at one, $16.50 at the other -- and
these, according to another page I'd read, are cheap,
dual-duty palms for weekend sailors.

Joy Beeson
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ -- needlework
http://home.earthlink.net/~dbeeson59...HSEW/ROUGH.HTM
http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ -- Writers' Exchange
joy beeson at earthlink dot net