Hi Everyone,

I literally just started sewing last week! I have an old machine (a Kenmore 15561) that has only been used 2 times prior to me and was able to produce a VERY simple blanket last week with generally no problems.

However, I sat down last night to complete either a Straight Stitch or a Top-stitch (I'm still trying to understand the difference between the two) but my problem is this:

I can't get the stitches to stitch any wider than say 1/2 a millimeter. It's such a small stitch, that sometimes the stitching on the fabric is the same size.

So, what do you think is the problem? I've played with the tension and the sizing. I've replaced and played with the bobbin, I've threaded and re-threaded, I even tried it backwards to see if that changed anything (it actually made a huge hole in the fabric - a standard cotton fabric).

My guess is that it has to do with the "feed dogs", but I don't know how to check that or if I'm missing something totally obvious. On that note, it doesn't always seem to me that the fabric is moving when the machine is on - so that just might be the problem. If so, how would I even go about trying to fix or figure out what is going on?

Your help is much appreciated.

Thank you!