I found a Singer 500A in good condition, and I'm wondering if I should get that and dump my Singer 750, or should I just stay with what I have?
I found a 500A at a thrift store for $30 that seemed to be in great condition. I wasn't able to plug it in, but the movement seemed fluid and easy to move. I opened the bottom panel, everything looked pretty good inside given it's age. It also had some of the original accessories (feet, cams, but no manual).
My current machine is a 750 Touch & Sew - it runs, but I seem to have a lot of problems with it. It seems to need a lot of tension and adjustments, but I'm also a fairly inexperienced sewer, so it could just be me.

I figured it out!!! 

Last night I went to bed, but was thinking of all of the variables that could cause the problem.

"Let's see, what are the things that changed after having the machine repaired? Let's see, I put it back in the cabinet, replaced the white tread with black thread of the same type, removed the bobbin with white thread and placed in a new bobbin and wound black thread on it, and oh yea, I removed the bobbin-holder to get that one rogue thread that was bothering me... Son of a #*$&!!!"

When I got home today, removed the bobbin-holder, carefully followed the instructions for replacing it, tested it, and now it works fine!

So to everyone that said "bobbin", you were on the right track! Thanks everyone for help (and listening to me rant )

The presser feet were down and functioning normally. The bobbin is a drop-in. The bobbin only fits one-way, and the machine has a self-winding feature, so I know it's not something put in the wrong way. I cleaned all the lint & threads out myself and the repair guy got what I couldn't, so I don't think it's anything that's sticking in there.

[Please help - you are the only thing keeping me from picking up my sewing machine and kicking it in it's stupid head!!!]

Please help - you are the only thing keeping me from picking up my sewing machine and kicking it in it's stupid head!!! My machine will go through a few stitches just fine, but then gets a bunch of thread bound up in a giant knot underneath the fabric and I have to cut it out of the machine.

I've been using a Singer Golden Touch & Sew 750 intermittently for a few years. Seems like it will work fine for a while, I'll put it away, then when I start to use it again it has tension issues & breaks needles. I take it for repair, then works great until the next time.

So true to form, I take it out of storage and try using it, needs adjustment. Brought it to repair, the guy said the timing was off due to a slipped belt. He repaired it, even showed me a fabric sample where he worked it through the paces and different stitches (and I know it was authentic because the thread was still attached to my machine). I take it home and for the life of me I cannot get it to work correctly now!

I have the manual and have gone through it again and again trying to figure out what I could be doing wrong. As far as I can tell, I am threading the machine correctly, that I'm winding and placing the bobbin correctly and all of the settings are correct.

So I'll start stitching, it will make about an inch of normal-looking stitches, then disaster!
I've tried different stitch settings and tensions, same result. The examples below are set to straight center stitch, tension of 6, stitch length of 8.

It's hard to get a good photo of what's going on, but these are a close-up of the giant knot of thread underneath the fabric and several threads going down into the bobbin area, trapping the fabric to the machine.




Here's the top of the stitch - looks normal, right?


But here's the bottom of the stitch (after I've cut it from the machine).


I would go out right now and buy a new machine, but I'm not convinced it's not some mistake I'm making. Any advice???


Ugh - why did I get rid of my Pre-WWI Singer (which was an absolute workhorse!)? Who needs zig-zag anyway?!?

That is such a great costume! I love how you were able to get the concept across with just a few basic elements.

Those are AWESOME!

I saw that orange fabric at Joanns and it didn't grab me, but that as a skirt is awesome!

Those are great! I never thought of felted horns - I bet they are light and comfortable.

That's such a great idea! I never would have come up with that (may have to try that next Halloween).

Those are great!