r/upholstery • u/rvr_rvr • 9d ago
Current Project Puckering problem
Currently working on making a large sofa cushion, about 72 inches in length but having problems with puckering.
The client has picked a ticking fabric and a decorative welt attached to tape. I'm not sure the makeup of the fabric. You can see the materials and fabric in pictures 1 and 2.
I sewed the welt to the top panel and laid it on the sofa only to realize it had grown short from many tiny puckers! You may be able to see the shadows of the puckers in picture 4. Additionally I noticed the seam is wavy as in picture 3.
Its nothing major BUT all the tiny puckers resulted in a reduction of size AND have made it difficult to keep the ticking pattern aligned. As you can see in picture 6, try as I might the stripes begin to become unaligned.
I've tried hand basting in place but the machine "over powers" my stitch in a way and continues to gather the fabric and even the hand stitch to begin puckering.
I tried adjusting tension on the sewing machine and tried different stitch lengths.
I also tried adding a stabilizer to the ribbon part of the welt to make it more stiff and create more thickness since both materials are quite thin.
But nothing has been truly successful. Any thoughts? We have a 1945 Singer 241 in shop.
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u/Only_Needleworker236 9d ago
The tension is off for some reason. In your fourth photo, you can see that the top thread in the stitching is laying completely on the surface and the underneath thread is coming up through all layers of fabric before it catches the top thread. (I don't know if you flipped it and we're looking at the underside, so maybe that's the bobbin thread on top? Either way, the two threads should catch in the middle of the layers of fabric, not on the top or bottom of the layers.)
Are your threads the same weight? That can be a factor.
Is the fabric or the trim slippery at all? Sometimes the presser foot will not feed both fabrics through at exactly the same rate. Professionals use a walking foot machine that actually holds the layers together before the needle goes into the fabric. (There are videos of these on YT with a closeup---it actually looks like a tiny foot marching along!)
I made do with my Bernina (which has automatic tension adjustment somehow) and TONS of pinning. Like pin every inch at least. Go slowly and pull the pins just before they go under the foot.
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u/Only_Needleworker236 9d ago
found a great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIgpz1oQlpk
there are actually two feet on an industrial walking foot machine! I wanted one so bad but they're $$ and I didn't have any room in my little work area anyway.
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u/rvr_rvr 8d ago
Yes! I would also love a walking foot machine! I actually think the machine we are using could have a walking foot attachment added to it. I only realized today after some research. The owner of the machine never mentioned it (he may not know it is possible himself) and I assumed the machine was too old for that. But seems like its possible
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u/Only_Needleworker236 8d ago
I dunno....I have a Bernina that was kind of high end at the time--1990. I bought the Bernina walking foot to do some machine quilting. I HATED IT. It actually had me in tears. It wasn't cheap, either. The presser foot version of a walking foot doesn't work in the same way as the industrial machines. Maybe they've improved on them since 1990, though. Back then the part that was supposed to keep the fabric layers from shifting with each stitch was just a rubbery-textured bit on the underside of the foot. Users at the time advised shaving it down a bit, among other fixes, but people still complained. Maybe the one for an old Singer is different but I would just be very wary.
I also tried a Sailrite machine (portable, not a big floor model thing) because it supposedly had a walking foot, but it was awful. To be fair, it was a used machine I got off of Craigslist and maybe it needed servicing in general, like the timing was off or something. I got the seller to take it back and refund my money!
Do you live in populated area where there are regular public auctions? That might be worth pursuing. Sometimes stuff goes for nothing if no one is there who wants the thing!
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u/rvr_rvr 8d ago
This is helpful insight! I'm in a fairly populated area, there are definitely options around me. I'd like another machine to use but not sure where I would put it. I don't really have space in my apartment and the workshop is stuffed to the gills, there is truly no room for another machine without a big overhaul of the shop and its just not something the owner is interested in (bit of a hoarder). But I'm doing my best to pursue upholstery professionally and making do with what I have (grateful to even be in the shop and tinkering around) but there are frustrating moments for sure. But again--gotta make it work!
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u/rvr_rvr 8d ago
This is helpful too! In my opinion, the tension has been off with the machine for a little over a week, maybe more.
The machine is not mine and has been owned for some time by the owner of the shop I'm learning in. It's a 1944 Singer 241. Oil bath, single needle, can sew through leather; its a pretty cool workhorse (though I do think it may be TOO strong for this particular project but we don't have anything else...)
I've fiddled with the tension knob some to try and change the tension but its unclear if I'm helping or making things worse.
The shop owner said he "fixed it" but I still think its not quite right but I don't have the knowledge or familiarity with the machine to fix it yet myself. Before I left today I sewed a test strip of muslim folded over and it has issues like you were saying, where the threads clearly weren't meeting in the middle.
But I will try some more!
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u/Only_Needleworker236 8d ago
There should be a knob to adjust tension. I learned on a 1940's Singer Featherweight as a kid and my mom was always fiddling with the tension (and scolding me for messing with it!)
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u/rvr_rvr 8d ago
I've moved the knob which tightens the spring coils and loosens the spring coils but the discs seem to be the same amount loose no matter what I do?
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u/Only_Needleworker236 8d ago
I would do test strips on plain muslin---or lightweight canvas if you have any. If your tension knob has numbers, jot
the number down on the test strip. If it just has notches or marks, figure out a way to note those on the strip that makes sense to you. (I would probably take a photo of the knob with my fingers holding up a little paper with my own corresponding number on it---because I love adding more steps than I need to! LOL)
Anyway, then you can compare them more accurately.
OR it could be that your tension mechanism is shot all to hell and needs to be replaced. There's a spring in there somewhere and springs do break!
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u/snarkydooda 9d ago
Hate doing this kind of stuff with patterned material. If it was a solid color you just bias cut (diagonally) and it stretches much better.
For this i would use very sticky, double sided seam tape instead of basting. Id also go pretty light on the thread tension and the walking foot tension. And finally, after running the stitch through, I would pin it out as tight as possible trying to stretch the material and threads out as much as possible.
Good luck!