How to Adjust the Tension on Your Sewing Machine for Machine Quilting

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Q: Can give us some hints about how to set the top and bottom tensions on the machine so you don’t end up with thread loops showing on the top or bottom, and how to know when the tensions are set correctly?

 

A: This is the one most important thing that sets your quilt off as looking like a professional did it versus an amateur did it. It’s all about the tension - that little dial on your machine and it’s either too tight or too loose.

Click on the image below to hear the rest of Pam's answer.

Pam: If you have threads that are showing, if your bobbin thread is showing on the top of your quilt, you need to loosen your tension which means a lower number.  

And if your top thread is showing through on the backside of your quilt that means that you need to tighten the tension.  That’s going to bring the threads up and that means a higher number.

The goal is to have your threads meet in the middle inside the batting and that’s kind of the beauty of that extra layer in there. We might as well make it be good and do something.

Every thread is different and every machine is different in the threads that it likes. So you’re going to have to experiment and see what it does, and what thread does your machine like.

A lot of times if you use the same thread on the top and the bottom or in the bobbin, that usually gives you a good result.  Also if you use the same color thread on the top and bottom, then you really don’t have any problem even if it does sneak up to the top or the bottom you’re not going to see it.

When you go into using a variegated thread or if you different threads on the top and the bottom, which we’ll talk about in a minute, then that also will affect the tension.  

If you are using a pre-wound bobbin I tend to use the Super-Bobs that are a bottom line thread from Superior and they have so much thread on them but it’s really fine and so if I use a heavy thread on the top like King Tut and then I use a light-weight thread on the bottom it’s going to take some adjustment even on the bobbin case because the bobbin thread is so fine it comes out really fast. 

That’s about the only time I adjust that but you need to practice these on your sandwiches and that’s how you’re going to find your tension in which we’ll talk about as we go through these things how important it is to get used to having something that you’re trying out your stitch length, your stitch color, and the tension all the same time.

 

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