Six major elements of sewing

Defects of sewing that occur in sewing

process

Uneven stitch, irregular stitch, balloon stitch, stitch skipping, missing stitch,
Slipping seam(Slipping, slip-out), thread breakage, broken material, thread
return (reverse), weaving thread lift, seam puckering(small puckering, small
shrinkage), sewing slippage, left-right inclined stitch of bobbin thread, seam
grinning, towel face, clogged stitch, pitch error, seam bray(thread looseness),
hangnail, idle stitching(drop stitching), feed dog defect(rasp-cut defect),
needle breakage defect, needle mark(trace of needle)……
 Six major elements of sewing

Stitch consists of the following 6 factors.

Hook (Looper) Needle

Bar

Thread take up
Feed lever

Thread Presser
tension foot
1. Needle Bar (Needle bar stroke, Needle)
Blade point

Heavy-weight
UP material
& Needle
DOWN

Upper thread
pierce into the
material to be Light-weight
sewn. material
1-3. Needle

Needle is attached to the top of needle bar and is one of the most
important parts to sew materials.
If needle is not good, it will be the cause of various troubles such as
thread breakage, material breakage, puckering (wrinkle by sewing),
etc.
If there is any problem related to the sewing, it is general to check
whether threading is proper, then to check whether needle is defective.
1-3-1. Name of part

Length of Shank
Shank
Shank
diameter
Taper/
Shoulder
Long
Short
Butt to groove
groove
eyelet
Blade
Bridge/Land
Scarf
Needle eye
Needle Point
point Tip of Groove
the point
1-3-2. Shank diameter of Needle

DA x 1 1.62mm(#7 - #22 )
DB X 1 1.62mm(#7 - #18 )
Shank
1.90mm(#19 )
diameter
2.02mm(#20 or more )
Lockstitch Machine

DC x 1 2.02mm
DC X 27 2.02mm

Overlock Machine

DP x 5 2.00mm

Special Machine
1-3-3. Butt to Eyelet (Length between top end
of eyelet and top end of shank)

This is the most important

Lockstitch Machine dimension for hook or
looper to scoop thread loop,
the length of butt to eyelet is
fixed even when thickness of
needle (Needle size No.)
Overlock Machine Butt to
changes.
eyelet

Special Machine
 1-3-4. Length of Needle

(Big)
Lockstitch Machine

Shank size
Length of Needle (Long)

Special Machine
Length of
Needle

The length is fixed since

required to scoop looper
thread at the needle tip.

Overlock Machine
1-3-5. Thickness (Needle size)
ORGAN / SINGER German (Metric)

SCHMETZ 100 / 16
ORGAN 16

Truck size # Nm Truck size

0.57 mm 7 55 0.55 mm
0.62 mm 8 60 0.60 mm
0.67 mm 9 65 0.65 mm = 2-Step trunk =
0.72 mm 10 70 0.70 mm
Prevents the needle from
0.77 mm 11 75 0.75 mm vibration and protects
0.82 mm 12 80 0.80 mm the rise of needle heat
0.87 mm 13 85 0.85 mm by reducing friction
0.92 mm 14 90 0.90 mm when the needle comes
0.97 mm 15 95 0.95 mm off cloth.
1.02 mm 16 100 1.00 mm
1.07 mm 17 105 1.05 mm
1.12 mm 18 110 1.10 mm Thickness (Needle
1.22 mm 19 120 1.20 mm size)
1.27 mm 20 125 1.25 mm
1.32 mm 21 130 1.30 mm
1.42 mm 22 140 1.40 mm
1-3-6. Length of Shank

If the length of shank get longer, it is better for needle-

wobbling or needle-bent. However, if the shank portion enters
material, it will cause material breakage or puckering. As a
result, the length within the range the shank does not enter
material is good.

13mm
10mm
DC x 1, DC x 27

DC - N17
1-3-7. Shape of scarf

The typical shape of scarf are of standard

type and of boat type. The boat type shape
is good for making needle thread loop
and effective to protect stitch skipping. Standard type shape
However the blade point to scoop needle
thread should be positioned at the height
where it does not come in contact with the
lower portion of scarf. In addition,
resistance at upper and lower angle
portions of the scarf slightly increase Boat-shape type
when raising or lowering material.
1-3-8. Rear groove on Needle
( Double-groove Needle )

2nd long groove

1. Reduce Resistance
(Short groove) 2. Improve thread
tightness

Long
Bridge
groove Improve loop
(Land)
making
1-3-9. Shape of needle tip

Information sources: ORGAN NEEDLES

1-3-10. Exclusive needle for knit
This is a needle that does not break material with its tip, and this is
improved penetration of needle to material. It is effective against material
breakage and protection of puckering.

Eyelet is as large as that of the standard type

Trunk is not a 2-step stretched wire.

DB x 1 KN

Longer taper
Tip is longer by 0.5mm to 1 mm.
1-3-11. Needle for new synthetic fiber

DB x 1
Needle

KN
Needle

NS
Needle Less
Resistance
SF
Needle
1-3-12. Surface treatment

Nickel plating Chrome plating

For Home-use For Industrial
sewing machine sewing machine

Teflon coating Titanium coating

Slide is the best,but Wear proof & heat-proof
durability of coating are best, for extra heavy-
effect is low. weight material or the
like.
1-3-13. Needle-to-thread relation

Thread 50cm
When the needle slides down
while slowly turning, it can
be said that the size of needle
is proper for the thread.
If the needle does not slide
down or slides down without
any resistance, stitch failure
(stitch skipping, thread
breakage or stitch looseness)
is likely to occur.
 Table of proper relations between Needle & Thread

Ta b le fo r p rop e r re la tions b e twe e n ne e d le & thre a d

Ne e d le size Sp u n t hre a d Fila m e nt t h re a d Ma in Ap p lic a t ion
# 5 to # 6 # 120 # 100 Ext ra lig h t -w e ig h t n ylo n m a t e ria l a n d b lou se s
# 7 to # 8 # 100 # 80 t o # 100 Shirt s, kn it w e a r
# 9 t o # 10 # 80 # 60 t o # 80 La d ie s' d re ss, p yia m a s
# 11 t o # 12 # 60 # 50 t o # 60 G e nt s' su it s, st ud e n t u n ifo rm
# 13 t o # 14 # 40 t o # 50 # 40 t o # 50 Woo l fa b ric s, G e n t s' su it s
# 16 # 30 t o # 40 # 30 t o # 40 Workin g w e a r, je a n
# 18 # 20 t o # 30 # 20 t o # 30 Je a n s, c oa t
# 19 # 10 t o # 20 # 10 t o # 20 He a v y-w e ig h t m a t e ria ls suc h a s d e n im , sh e e t , e t c .
# 20 t o # 21 # 8 t o # 10 # 5 t o # 10 He a v y-w e ig h t m a t e ria ls suc h a s t e n t , she e t , e t c .
# 22 t o # 26 # 8 o r le ss # 5 o r le ss Ext ra he a v y-w e ig h t m a t e ria ls suc h a s c a n va s o r t h e like
2. Hook
Hook is divided into outer hook and inner hook, Outer hook scoops
upper thread from needle, rotates periphery of inner hook and interlaces
with lower thread (bobbin case) which is sent to inner hook to form
stitches.

Semi-rotary hook scoops upper thread with

the inner hook.
2-1. Type of Hook

DB type DP type
Horizontal full rotary hook Horizontal full rotary hook
(Horizontal 2-rotation hook) (Horizontal 2-rotation hook)

Vertical full rotary hook

(Vertical 2-rotation hook)

Horizontal semi-rotary hook

(Inner hook)
Shuttle hook
2-1-1. DB type Hook Horizontal full rotary hook
(Horizontal 2-rotation hook)

DDL-8700, DDL-5530, DDL-9000 etc.

This hook is vertically set to hook shaft, and hook
driving shaft rotates two times when needle bar
travels one time.
This hook is used the most for the industrial sewing
machine and there are many kinds.

Normal feed
Perfect stitch

Reverse feed
Hitch stitch
2-1-2. DP type Hook Horizontal full rotary hook
(Horizontal 2-rotation hook)

LBH-1700, LK-1900, LZ-2280, LZ-2290 etc.

This hook is used for Zigzag sewing and embroidery
sewing machine since perfect stitch can be obtained
regardless of sewing direction.

Rotation is reverse to that of DB type.

It is apt to occur that thread is caught on race
surface.

Normal feed
Reverse feed

Perfect stitch
2-1-3. Vertical full rotary hook
Vertical full rotary hook
(Vertical 2-rotation hook)

LH-3128, LU-1510, LU-2210 etc.

This hook is developed for 2-needle sewing machine, but
used for sewing machine with 1-needle to sew heavy-
weight materials.

Regardless of sewing direction, perfect stitch

can be obtained.

Perfect stitch
2-1-4. Horizontal semi-rotary hook
(Inner hook)

LK-1900, LK-1850, AMS Series etc.

This hook is suitable for heavy-weight materials since
correspondence to change of material thickness is good.
This is not suitable for high-speed, because of
oscillating motion.
Perfect and hitch stitches are made.
2-1-5. Shuttle hook

TSU-471, TSN-421, TSC-441, 461

Stitches are well-tightened. This is suitable
for sewing shoes, bags, etc.
Perfect and hitch stitches are made.
2-2. Hook timing

DA Needle

DB Needle

Advance

Delay
Needle bar Hook
height position
2-3-1. Needle thread loop

When the needle

goes up from its
lowest position, loop
is formed by
resistance of cloth.

Size of loop

Lifting amount

Lowest position
2-3-2. Loop is small, twisted.
Resistance of Small Lifting amount
cloth is is small
loop
excessive.

Thread is
Resistance of cloth bad.
Cloth is
is small.
flopped.
Material flops Loop is
Lifting amount twisted.
is large.
Thick cloth
(overlapped
Thread is
portion) Shift of twist of
Small loop
bad.
thread is many.
Lifting amount: small
3. Thread take-up lever

Function of Thread take-up lever

1. Provides needle with upper thread.
2. Supplies necessary amount of thread so that hook can scoop
upper thread and so that upper thread passes through inner hook.
3. Lifts upper thread quickly when upper thread passes through
inner hook.
4. Feeds out upper thread to be consumed for stitches together with
feed dog.
5. Perform thread-tightening.
3-1. Kind of thread take-up lever
Cam type Link type
Rotary type

Slide type Needle bar type

3-2. Stroke of thread take-up lever (Thread
supply amount)

Thread supply amount from upper dead point to lower dead point of thread take-up
lever is called STROKE OF THREAD TAKE-UP LEVER. Normally, the stroke is
small for light-weight materials and large for heavy-weight materials. When the stroke
is small, thread tightness is improved. For the adjustment of stroke of thread take-up
lever, it can be performed by moving arm thread guide laterally.

Thread
Supply
Increase Amount Decrease

Arm thread guide

 Stroke of
Rotation angle

Thread take-
up lever
Curve of feed dog
vertical motion

Upper thread from hook

thread take-up
Curve of hook

Thread take-up
lever lower dead
point
Curve of thread supply of thread
take-up lever
General lockstitch
sewing machine

Curve of needle bar

Upper thread catching

by hook
3-3. Motion Diagram

Feed dog lower death point

motion

Needle bar lower dead

point
Thread take-up lever
upper dead point
Feed dog upper
dead point
Needle bar upper
dead point
Needle bar stroke
4. Feed Dog

Function of Feed dog

1. Makes the sewing product move per stitch.
2. Can change amount to move and forms stitches suitable for
the sewing product.
3. Stretch stitching or gathering stitch can be performed by
means of feed mechanism, and prevention of puckering,
gathering, etc. can be performed.
4-1. Kind of feed mechanism.
Bottom Feed Needle Feed Differential Feed Bottom & variable
top Feed

Differential bottom
Unison Feed Others: with cloth
feed & variable top
pulling roller
Feed
4-2. Kind of feed dog

Angle feed dog

This is a feed dog generally used in large. The
shape is strong in feed force of normal feed.

Double-cut feed dog

It is good to fix materials laterally. This is used for
upper feed dog of Zigzag sewing machine, and
top and bottom feed sewing machine.

Slant tooth (helical tooth) feed dog

This shape is hard to make feed dog defect on
materials. This is used for top and bottom feed
sewing machine (cloth puller type).

Urethane rubber feed dog

Feed dog defect is not made on materials. This is
suitable for materials on which feed dog defect is
easily made for yarn of cloth is caught with feed
dog.
4-3. Shape of feed dog (with
respect to angle feed dog)

Check points

1) Sag at the top end of tooth(width is 0.1mm or more

and rounding)
2) Top end of tooth is sharp as a blade
3) Surface of feed dog is not even. Or, it is not leveled.

Corrective measure: replace feed dog, correct using grind

stone or the like

Slim pitch: suitable for Light-weight material

Coarse pitch: suitable for Heavy-

weight material
Standard : Pitch1.5mm
 4-3-2. Shape of feed dog

Number of teeth (row)

1) The less the number of teeth (row) is, the better the sharp curve stitching becomes.
2) The more the number of teeth (row) is, the better straight feeding, feed force and
stability of material become.
3) When feed dog is located at this side of hole throat plate, feeding to overlapped section
and bite at the start of sewing are improved.
4) For the elastic materials such as knit or like, it is likely to be good to feed materials at the
front or rear of needle entry. If there is no feed dog on this side, the material is in the state
that it is pulled by the feed dog located in the rear of needle, and the material is sewn
while it is somewhat stretched.

Number of teeth (row) Better for straight

feeding, feed force
and stability of
Better for materials
sharp curve
stitch
4-4. Tilt and height of the feed dog
1) Height
Standard: 0.8mm Too High:
Feed force is good, however
puckering may easily occur.

Too Low:
Feed force is bad, however
puckering may not easily
0.5 - 1.2mm
occur.

2) Tilt
4-5. Feed timing Check the timing at the position
where needle tip (needle eye) is
when feed dog comes down.

Advanced feed timing Delayed feed timing

Bending of thread is decreased and upper

If the feed timing is advanced when thread thread tightness is improved. However, if
is pulled up with thread take-up lever, feed timing is excessively delayed, needle
thread is caught between throat plate and wobbling occurs, resulting in needle
material and thread tightness is deteriorated. breakage.
5. Presser Foot
Function of Presser foot
1. Stabilizes materials to sew jointly on the surface of throat plate, and
determines the sewing position.
2. Presses the materials so that materials are not lifted with the needle comes
out of materials.
3. Makes materials come in close contact with teeth of feed dog with adequate
pressure so that the sewing direction is not disturbed when feed dog feeds
materials forward or backward.
5-1. Kind of presser foot
Hinging presser foot Fixed presser foot Compensating presser foot

Sliding presser foot Roller presser Ring roller presser

5-2. Thread pass recess
Recess on reverse side of presser foot is made to decrease resistance and lift the thread
smoothly when thread take-up lever lifts upper thread. Length of this recess varies
according to the kind of presser foot. It is necessary to use a proper presser foot in
accordance with thickness or stitch length.

D1524-012-0BA
Standard. This type does not press stitch (knotting point of upper & lower
Large threads), and thread tightness is improved. However, if this presser foot is
used when stitch length is small or sewing light-weight materials, puckering
may occur.

D1524-555-DBA
When the feed pitch 3mm exceeds, defective
Small thread tightness is apt to occur.
•small
B1613-012-TA0 1.4mm←1.9mm
This is effective for preventing puckering caused
No recess by excessive thread tightness when sewing extra
light-weight materials.
B1524-012-TBA
5-3. Surface treatment

Standard presser foot:

Nickel plating, chrome plating

Special presser foot:

Teflon presser foot, Teflon treatment presser foot

D1524-126-WBA
1) MAA-05000AA0 (PF-1)
= For standard
2) MAA-05000BA0 (PF-2)
= For medium & heavy-
weight
3) MAA-05000CA0 (PF-3)
= For light-weight
5-4. Pressure of presser foot
Kinds of presser spring
For Extra light-weight materials
111-62104
For NF Sewing Machine
111-05202

Pressure of presser foot: Kg 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6

For Standard
Height of 42 40 38 37 35 34 32 30 28 26
B1505-227-000A
Presser spring
For Light-weight
regulator :
Materials 40 36 33 30 27 24 21 19
mm
B1505-227-T00A
Relation between height of presser foot and pressure of presser foot
6. Thread tension
This gives a proper tension to upper thread and
lower thread among the various sewing
conditions, and interlaces upper thread and lower
thread in the approximate center of cloth to form
beautiful stitches.
6-1. Adjusting points of thread tension

First, adjust the lower thread tension.

Effective for reduction of uneven

stitches and decrease of bobbin

Thread idling.
Tension
Effective for reduction of puckering,

wobbling prevention, and improving

appearance.
 Measuring bobbin thread tension

Needle bar is Spring less bobbin case

near its upper
death point

Set draw-out speed of

thread: 10 to
30mm.sec.

Idling prevention
spring

* Notch for spring rotation prevention is attached to bobbin

case with idling prevention spring, and the depth of the case
is wider than the standard as deep as the thickness of spring
(0.1mm).
Thread tension adjustment value
Thread tension adjustment value
Bobbin thread Thread take-up Stroke (thread
tension spring tension absorption amount)
Spun #80
10 - 25g 5 - 15g 9 - 14mm
Tetron #80, #60
Spun #50, #60
15 - 30g 10 - 20g 8 - 13mm
Tetron #50
Spun #30
20 - 40g 20 - 30g 6 -11mm
Tetron #30
6-2-2. Thread controller
Tension disk type Rotary tension type

1st tension
(thread guide post)

Relation between tightening position of tension nut ant tension

Position of tension nut (turn) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Type A : D3129-555-D00 9g 15 30 40 55 75 85 105 120 150 190
Tetron #80
Standard: B3129-012-A00 10g 24 48 75 105 120 150 180 240 - -
Type A : D3129-555-D00 12g 15 25 40 50 65 80 100 120 145 190
Spun #80
Standard: B3129-012-A00 12g 22 45 65 85 110 135 160 210 - -

Regard as “0” the place where end face of

tension nut on this side is aligned with end
of tension post.
Regard tightening of 1 turn as “1”, and that
of 2 turn as “2”.
6-3. Thread take-up spring
Under dead point
of thread take-up
lever
Curve of needle bar
motion

Curve of hook
thread take-up
Curve of thread
supply of thread
A
take-up lever

C
6-4. Needle bar thread guide
Standard : 110-05303
This thread guide decreases thread fluctuation around needle tip, and is suitable for the
feed pitch 3mm more or less with thin synthetic thread.

For thick thread and large feed pitch (H type) : B1418-415-H00

This thread guide decreases thread fluctuation around needle tip, and is suitable for the
feed pitch 3mm more or less with thin synthetic thread.

For Extra thick thread : 114-01619

Thread hole protrudes this side further than aforementioned (H type)> This guide is
suitable for extra thick thread and feed 5mm or more..

For uneven stitch prevention : B1418-227-T00

This guide makes needle thread approach the needle as near as possible and stability of
thread is good. Also this guide is good for thread breakage prevention at the time of
needle bent, uneven stitch, reverse feed stitching and idle stitching, and is suitable for
synthetic thread and thin thread. However, threading is rather than difficult and thread
tightening is deteriorated with thick thread..
6-5. Needle thread tension disk (weak
spring or felt)
Needle thread
tension disk
Function:
1. Prevention of thread fluctuation at
needle portion.
2. Prevention of piercing thread at needle
tip.
3. Prevention of bite to hook (thread tension
in terms of blade point of hook is
increased).
4. Prevention of stitch skipping (when
blade point of hook scoops needle thread, * Set the tension 3 -
this disk gives resistance to thread to 5g
easily form. It is effective for idle
stitching or drop stitching).
6-6. Threading
Pass thread properly as described in the Instruction Manual.
And, set vertically “spool reset and spool pin”. Unevenness
of thread tension occurs, resulting in irregular stitch or thread
breakage.
Literature cited

￥ 2100.- ￥ 1575.-

* Not include postage charge