While working on a kid's sew and flip quilt, I'm having problems with my serger. The overcast stitches are fine but the straight stitch that is actually the seam line is the problem. It stitches fine for a while then skips stitches for a few inches, then starts stitching again. I've made lots of these quilts before on this machine without any trouble. I've rethreaded several times, adjusted the tension different ways, tried sewing slower, even tried sewing faster. Anyone have any other suggestions for me to try?

I think Auntie Reba is our resident serger expert but until she comes along, what I would try if I were having that problem would be replacing the needle. It could be not the best choice for the combination of thread and fabric you are using on maybe just worn out.........

I changed needles and cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned to get mine to quilt skipping. I also used dental floss to clean my tension discs. Found tiny piece of thread when I changed to the 4th size needle.
Good luck. Sergers are awesome but it's so easy to mess up. My most often mistake is not getting the thread tracked right. I set my numbers to zero and then reset.

My serger books said bent or blunt needle, machine not correctly threaded, or needle is incorrectly inserted. Hope this helps and you can get back to making the quilt.

Try a different thread and see if you still have the problem.

I would try the dental floss in the disks.

Next check out the feed teeth and area underneath for "litter" and then clean out any area you can get to on the machine. I can't believe how much lint I get out of mine.

I hate to say this, but I doubt if it is the needles. I have yet to change mine and I can't tell you how many hundreds of pillow cases and baby blankets I have made with the same needles that came with the serger. Really need to do that one of these days. Mine just used 1 size so that wouldn't be it for me.

Good luck... Chris

Thanks for all of these quick suggestions. I've cleaned the machine . . . and cleaned some more! From the amount of lint I removed, I'm thinking that may be the problem. There is also a new needle in. After we eat, I'll rethread again and try sewing. Will let you know how it works.

Ha ha. I do love my Babylock. Here
's a boo-boo I've done several times...not having the needle inserted far enough UP into the shaft. Try re-inserting it since you have checked the threading. Also is there a stitch finger? Refer to manual. Sometimes that is out of place too. HTH

I have also read the stitch size needs to be increased as it can not go through all the fabrics if it is to small...don't know what you are serging but hope one of these tips help.

I really appreciate all of you taking time to offer some advice. I have tried EVERY suggestion given here but it is still skipping stitches. It's not quite as bad as before but definitely not satisfactory. I guess I'll be taking the machine to the repairman. Since the shop is 45 minutes away, I'll wait until there is another errand to run in that direction. At least it's not my main machine that's not working right so I can work on something else in the meantime.

A friend asked me to change her thread on her serger. I cut the threads and took them all off the machine and started cleaning it. I thought she was going to faint. She'd had her serger for years and had NEVER threaded it. She tied knots and pulled them through the machine. We had a good laugh but only after I rethreaded it.

Check those needles again. Serger needles take a lot of abuse.