Featherweight Needle Direction

NFL – not the National Football League, but that does work as a good reminder.

While today’s tip might seem elementary to some, it is the most common culprit to a Featherweight that has suddenly stopped sewing correctly. We get numerous calls from frustrated quilters who snapped a needle only to find that after replacing the needle that the machine no longer stitches properly. The simple answer is usually that the new needle was installed incorrectly.

So here is a helpful reminder as well as photos of the correct needle installment. Needle Flat Left – When sitting at your machine as if ready to sew, the needle should be installed with the flat side of the needle facing left.

As you can see in the photos below, when the needle is inserted incorrectly the needle is moved over to the right ever so slightly. This tiny deviation is just enough that the hook misses the thread loop at the bottom of the needle rotation – hence, “no stitch” is formed. Although the Featherweight is simple to operate and fairly easy to maintain, it is a masterpiece of engineering in a very small package and seemingly insignificant variations can be the difference between a perfect stitch and no stitch at all!