My Baby Lock Destiny 2 is a very nice combination Embroidery and Sewing machine. I have gotten a lot of use out of it so I understand that maintenance is crucial to good performance. A couple of months ago, I did bring it in for a thorough cleaning and servicing. When I got it home, it was like a new machine. Smooth and even stitches. After a while, I noticed when doing embroidery, my satin stitches began pulling the bobbin up to the top. The first thing I thought was it needed to go back to the dealer. Then I realized it might be my bobbin case.
Some of the Baby Lock and Brother embroidery and sewing machines will use a "Green Dot" bobbin case. You might not realize yours has a small dab of paint over the screw that would usually be rotated to increase or decrease the tension. This "Green dot" is Loc-tite installed from the factory. They do this so you don't have to adjust your bobbin case. It means that you should get a consistent tension from your default bobbin with the bobbin thread your machine has been calibrated to. Mine works best with 60 weight thread. The picture above shows the bobbin case with paint on the left side. On the right side, I have a second bobbin case that came with my machine. It doesn't have green paint on the small tension screw.
The bobbin case without the green paint on the small screw can be adjusted if you are using a different weight bobbin thread. You may choose to use thread that matches your top color in your bobbin. If so, using the case that can be adjusted might give you better results if it is say a 40 weight. This thread in the picture above is the type I am using. It is 60 weight. Since I had an extra bobbin case with my machine, I had a great way to test the tension on the one I thought might need to be replaced.
The first thing I did was remove the case and clean really well underneath it. This should be done periodically. I try to remember after each project. You would be surprised how lint can affect the bobbin case. Follow your instruction manual and do any maintenance according to it. My sewing machine was turned on for this picture so you could see the lit up area. Normally I would turn the machine off when cleaning and replacing the bobbin case.
I found my tensions were different when using the original "green dot" bobbin case and the non painted case. I also ordered a replacement green dot case from an online source. I did a satin stitch out using each case so I could see a side by side comparison. Very scientific don't you think? I kept the same thread in the top and bottom also.
All three stitch outs are different. The center satin stitch was the original case. The white thread is being pulled up along the edges. This tells you that the bobbin case is not keeping the tension tight enough allowing the top thread to pull it up. The satin stitch on the left is the non painted bobbin case. It was vastly improved and immediately I knew after seeing the stitch out that the bobbin case was the problem . The right satin stitch is the "New" green dot case I purchased as a replacement. It was also much better than the first stitch example. I did this with my embroidery unit but you could do the same thing by using a wide zig zag stitch that had been shortened to create a satin stitch. Using different colored thread on top and bobbin will also allow you to see the stitch variations.
So it was definitely time for me to get that bobbin case replaced. Take a look at yours and if you are having similar issues, maybe you have a second bobbin case in your accessories. The replacement I ordered online was very affordable and now I am so happy I can sew with confidence again. I filmed a video you can watch bellow showing the stitch outs. I hope you have enjoyed this post, share what you learn and are generous with what you create. Someone will appreciate your hard work.
