Bottom Stitches Aren't Clean

[rktaylor]

My bottom stitches aren't clean when I start. I make one forward stitch, back stitch, then go forward to finish. I have a Cobra 4. The pictures are of the bottom and top. Any thoughts? Thanks,  

Randy

[Goldshot Ron]

Randy, what I do to avoid this problem is to use an overstitch wheel and mark about 4 or 5 stitch marks.  Start at the third or fourth mark in reverse to the number one mark, then go forward from there.  Make sure you hold both threads when starting.

Ron

[AlZilla]

Yep, Goldshot Ron has it. Rookie 441 operator here and I've struggled with those backstitches, too. I've started figuring where 3rd stitch will end (4th hole), hover my needle exactly there and backstitch 3 stitches (drop the needle 3 times). Then, with the needle buried, drop the lever to forward and go. 

Seems to make a consistent decent stitch. I trim my tails with a pair of nail clippers. If there's any doubt, I use a pin or needle to drop just a little super glue in the hole where the cut tail pops through.

[rktaylor]

Thanks. I've never been able to 'eyeball' the second or third stitch very well. Using a stitch wheel is a great suggestion. 

Randy

[BlackDragon]

There are usually two ways I lock my stitching in.

The standard way I do it is to start in reverse do three stitches, then go forward.

The other way I do it that's not the norm is to start forward but leave extra thread so I can come back and hand stitch three holes to lock my thread in. I do this when I need a precise start and end point. 

[AlZilla]

1 hour ago, rktaylor said:

Thanks. I've never been able to 'eyeball' the second or third stitch very well. Using a stitch wheel is a great suggestion. 

Randy

Run some stitches without thread in scrap or cardboard, too. It's an exact template of your current stitch length setup.

[Hildebrand]

I use a set of calipers to find that 4th hole, leave machine in forward but stitch back to the start point, stop the needle just after it starts back up and the turn the work around and stitch forward through the stitches I just made. I don't have to worry about forward and reverse stitches being exactly equal in length. I keep scrap around so I make sure how long 3 stitches is currently on the machine.

Todd

[Cumberland Highpower]

 Why not just start your work one hole from the end?  Make one stich (or 2) and turn the work around 180 degrees and chug away?

I've almost never used a reverse on a machine.

Some machines just aren't timed right.  is your forward and reverse identical in stitch length?  There can also be times when a switch to reverse and then forward again wont pull the lock up right. (geometry).    Just things to consider.

Edited 20 hours ago by Cumberland Highpower

[AlZilla]

34 minutes ago, Cumberland Highpower said:

Why not just start your work one hole from the end?  Make one stich (or 2) and turn the work around 180 degrees and chug away?

For me, my big machine stitches the same in both directions. My 111Ws don't have reverse so either I do the turn around trick or leave long tails that I backstitch or tie off by hand. It all works.

[AEBL]

Someone recommended here once that you backstitch with double needle (saddle stitch) if you want it to look great and don't have to do too many of them.
I have been doing that with my very low volume hobby (translates as "business that I lose money doing").

[Cumberland Highpower]

Something else to consider is to not put so many "tacks" in that backtack.    All you really need is one back stitch.   One is enough, but 2 can be a plus.  2 as in 2 complete stitches back, not 2-3 piled up on top of each other.

All that thread in one place just makes a globby mess and doesn't look so neat.  If you're backtacking with heavy thread like yours, you shouldn't have more than 2 threads visible in each completed  backtack stitch. 

Edited 5 hours ago by Cumberland Highpower