Cotton Jam

Cotton jam

To make your Cotton Jam, take 3 tonnes of cotton and sugar then boil...

To unmake a Cotton Jam

Nah I'm only kidding! so, to "un-make" your Cotton Jam - a cotton jam being when everything is stuck to the machine - the fabric, the needle, the thread in the needle, the bobbin. I was in a jam! I mean EVERYTHING! So, you've tried everything. You've jiggled the dial on the right-hand side of the machine, you've put your foot down to try and jump the machine out of it, you've jiggled the fabric a bit. You've raised your hands to the sky. There's nothing you can do. It's just. It's rubbish. I know, nightmare right?

You need to fix it.

So. I start by just taking everything apart. Unscrew the needle from it's socket. (My needle made an escape-attempt earlier but this time we want it to come out). The needle will come off attached to the thread, so cut that cord. The needle is freeee! Pop it on the side somewhere safe - these things are expensive dontcha know!

Take your foot off as well so everything is clear of the fabric (See this post for taking your foot off)  

 

Put them both somewhere safe and where you can see them. Silver on brown or a labelled box. The foot will now look quite bare (see pic on right). Leave the needle screw loose for when you need to poke the needle back up in there afterwards.

Take your bobbin holder out. You may need to take the bobbin out of the bobbin holder and you may need to cut the thread from it.

There's the thread all stuck in there and ruining our machine!

Which cable should she cut? The yellow one, or the white one. At this stage I wanted to save my thread but really it doesn't matter. Cut them all off, we'll out some new thread in the machine later.

Finally, I was able to jiggle the fabric (without ripping it) so that I could cut it and release the fabric.

Happy quilting/sewing now that your fabric is free and your machine is clear. Maybe go a little slower next time and make sure your bobbin and top thread are the same thickness, because that can sometimes contribute to the Cotton Jam situation.

Please rock a comment if this helped in any way, shape or form!