I have a old, knock-off of a Pfaff or Morse Push button zig zag. How do I adjust to sew thick fabrics?

As stated, I picked up one of those heavy sewing machines that say Pfaff 650 but is prob a knockoff of a Morse because it looks almost just like it. It is a Zig Zag with a push button backwards and has a auto/manual lever which i haven’t figured out what that does.

If it’s too thick for the machine, the presser foot is raised too far in the air and you get loops of thread on the underside of the fabric (the upper presser tension is opened and closed by raising and lowering the presser foot).

Several things to try:

Adjust the presser foot pressure — typically a knob on top of the machine directly over the needle position. May push or pull or twist. May not exist at all (but typically does on older machines.)

Use a roller foot or walking foot.

Pregrade your seam allowances to remove bulk. Use the least bulky seams possible — for instance, since this fabric doesn’t ravel most likely, lapped or butted seams may be possible, rather than doing, say, a welt seam or a felled seam.

Sewing hammer to flatten the seam before sewing. No, I’m not crazy. I prefer a plastic faced dead blow mallet, about 6 oz.

And if everything else fails, find a different fabric or a machine with a higher lift for the presser foot.

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/tools_and_supplies/

http://www.amazon.com/Generic-20035-Roller-Foot/dp/B0015SBB9K

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