The Sewing Place

Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?

Emerion

Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?
« on: October 03, 2021, 15:15:22 PM »
I’ve had to unpick and start again on a curtain hem quite a few times now.  :faints: I’ve tried on my Singer 99k and Brother XL711. At first glance it looks like tension, because there is one line of thread lying flat top of the fabric. But on closer inspection, there are no loops coming up from below at all, so the stitches are not forming. If I lift the thread up, it comes away cleanly with no thread on it from the bobbin at all. It will go OK for a bit and then miss stitches again with no apparent cause. The only thing that I’m doing differently is that I’m using basting tape instead of pins. I have noticed that the needle shaft gets a bit gummy every now and then. When I tested for tension on a scrap of the same fabric (without basting tape), it was working OK, although admittedly I only sewed a few inches. Surely if basting tape caused this problem routinely, they wouldn’t be selling basting tape anymore, would they? Any thoughts?
Machine: Singer 99K 1954
Ability: Plenty of room for improvement

Acorn

Re: Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2021, 16:36:23 PM »
I can't answer about the basting tape causing skipped stitches, but if the needle is gumming up it's worth trying Organ anti-glue needles.  I use them often on my embroidery machine, and they really don't get gummed up the way needles often do with adhesive stabiliser.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Ohsewsimple

Re: Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?
« Reply #2 on: October 03, 2021, 17:53:54 PM »
What exactly are you using?   I use Prym or what used to be Collins wash away basting tape.  Not sure if that still exists or is under a different name.  It has to be wash away. 

Esme866

Re: Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2021, 22:02:48 PM »
While I may use an adhesive if and when I decide to quilt as that usage would be far superior to hand basting, I avoid adhesives as much as possible. If you replace the needle and sew on the same fabric without adhesive, does it seem to sew properly? If it is gumming up your needle, what else can it be gumming up? I'd try thoroughly cleaning or changing the needle and then thoroughly cleaning the feed dogs, bobbin and shuttle, you want to remove even microscopic bits of goo as they will attract dust, lint and thread - all not good for your machine when they reach the nether regions.

Even if a Chinese made product has been fine in the past, we have no assurance that they won't arbitrarily change the composition of anything to save a few pennies. Remember when they put melamine in cat food and so many pets died? Why should using a cheaper, gummier adhesive matter to them?

I like and trust the Chinese people, however their government and their manufacturers are a different matter.

In sewing almost anything, the time required to hand baste is mere minutes compared to the overall effort and the more you do it the faster it becomes.

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2021, 09:31:20 AM »
I use washaway wondertape type stuff a lot - never had a problem with it.  Even the cheap non-branded stuff.

Can you place your tape so you don't quite sew through it, it's just next to your stitching line?  Although I do sew through mine.

Emerion

Re: Is basting tape causing my machine to miss stitches?
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2021, 11:21:34 AM »
Thank you for all those helpful replies  :thumbsup:. I used to hand-baste more often, so I could do that a bit more again. With the current curtains, I think I will try to place the tape so that I can avoid sewing through it. I sent for this tape online, the cheapest available, which might have been a mistake.
Machine: Singer 99K 1954
Ability: Plenty of room for improvement