Understanding Thread Tension

Diagrams and how to fix sewing machine tension problems - very helpful!

Many sewers avoid the tension dials on their machines like the plague, certain they'll only make matters worse if they make adjustments. In fact, there's nothing very mysterious about setting and adjusting thread tensions on your sewing machine, whatever its make and model. What's potentially more confusing is that many apparently tension-related problems are caused by factors other than misadjusted tension dials. Let's look closely at how to identify and correct "tension" problems, both with and without touching the tension settings.  (MORE)