sewing jersey - any way to make it less awful

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  • Today I was helping my friend make a pair of armsocks out of old leggings and I've honestly never had such a bad sewing experience. My machine just refused to take the fabric through (especially on zigzag stitch which was annoying)! I have a decent mid range sewing machine, and I was just using my regular needle and foot, which, thinking about it, is probably part of the issue. Does anyone have any tips on how to get a regular sewing machine to work properly on stretchy jersey?
    Thanks in advance!

  • You need ballpoint or stretch needles for jersey, due to its weave/stretch factor. If you have a stretch stitch included and not just a zigzag, too, added bonus!

  • agreed, wrong needle and wrong stitch setting. Dust off your manual and read it, it will have recommendations specific to your machine,

  • I don't even try jersey without my walking foot. :/ It's a pain in the butt otherwise. Change the needle to the appropriate type, as someone else suggested, since the wrong needle with catch the threads and make life heck.

    Is your machine 'eating' the jersey? Like, trying to suck it into the feed dogs? When that happens to me, I stick tear-away stabilizer under there. If it's bunching up or stitching unevenly, you could try stretching it a bit as it goes through on a zig-zag stitch. Not usually the sanctioned way to do it, but if you need it done soon then consider it, maybe. My favorite is honestly a walking foot and/or t-shirt stitch (but it requires twin needles). If you have a serger (or know someone who does) and you only need really simple seams, you might be able to get away with that to a certain point. I've certainly cheated that way on the major seams of t-shirts.

    I hope something out of this mess helped. Best of luck!
    -G