The Sewing Place

Jeans topstitching

Mocarroll

Jeans topstitching
« on: November 22, 2021, 19:53:51 PM »
Please can you lovely people help? I am making Stylearcs Sandra jeans in a stretch denim. Made the toile and I'm really happy with the fit. However the topstitching is proving to be a challenge. I am using topstitching thread with regular thread in the bobbin, a new needle (tried both top stich and jeans size 100), hammered the seams, used a hump jumper and still I'm getting occasional skipped stitches. My machine (Brother innovis 1250) is usually man enough but even my trusty Singer 201k is not performing well. What more can I do? Would steaming and then using the clapper soften the denim?

Esme866

Re: Jeans topstitching
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2021, 20:18:36 PM »
Results like these is why I haven't attempted  a pair of jeans since 1982!

Steaming and a Clapper couldn't hurt. Perhaps even a slightly less bulky new needle? (That sounds counter-intuitive, but your machines may not like the heavier needles?)The 201 was developed for dressmaking of lighter weight fabrics. Do you have access to a 15? They were meant to be useful "on the farm". I haven't used mine yet, but I'm expecting it to handle this stuff.

The good news is, if you look at high end jeans ($1400 - $1500 per pair) your pockets are stellar! Unfortunately, anyone that knows me will know I've not wrapped my 62 year old bum in thousand dollar jeans! :rolleyes:

If it were me, I'd carefully fix the skipped stitches by hand and look for a 15 or some other machine proven to handle denim before I attempted another pair.

Maybe someone else will have a better idea, but I think it's the machines with the problem - and not the operator - in this instance.

Esme866

Re: Jeans topstitching
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2021, 20:25:36 PM »
Pooh! One more thought.....have you checked the timing on the 201? Is the timing as close to perfect as is humanly possible?

The extra bulk may be stressing the machine causing a slight deviation in timing to show up.

YouTube should have videos showing how to check.

Even if it were slightly off- I'm not sure I would touch it just for this application if its reliably sewing everything else.

jen

Re: Jeans topstitching
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2021, 08:55:03 AM »
I’m probably too late with this, but my Bernina skipped stitches top stitching a jacket with crossing seams until I woke up to the fact that the underside of the feed dogs was in serious need of defluffing. Other than that, I sometimes resort to turning the balance wheel by hand slowly when hitting humps.

Ploshkin

Re: Jeans topstitching
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2021, 09:10:49 AM »
My Pfaff doesn't like topstitching thread.  I usually use 2 strands of standard thread.  It has recently managed 10 layers of canvas + interfacing on a bag ( slowly, one stitch at a time) without a miss.
Life's too short for ironing.

Stitchalot

Re: Jeans topstitching
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2021, 13:09:24 PM »
After a good steaming, I would skip the clapper on the trickiest part and show it’s who’s boss with a heavy duty hammer. Also, as the final stitches in the troublesome areas reach the needle, you could try turning the wheel by hand, making sure the needle is about to pierce exactly where you want it to go. Good luck - I feel your pain!

kowgiirl.up

Re: Jeans topstitching
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2021, 17:22:13 PM »
I've sewn many pairs of jeans and when I've had this problem it almost always is needle flex (the needle bending causes the needle to move away from where the bobbin would normally pick up the needle thread). What size needle are you using?

Another thing you may try is using the handwheel to slowly go over those bulky seams. Using the handwheel slows down the process and allows the bobbin to pick up the needle thread.

One more thing that comes to mind for you to try. Change out the topstitching thread for regular thread. Make a sample of what you are trying to stitch up and see if you have the same issues.

Good luck and hopefully you have it solved by now.
Runs with scissors ✂️ ✂️✂️