Newbie sewer, advice please!

I've bought a sewing machine off of ebay and have tonight plugged it in for my first go.

Straight stitch was okay I think, but doing zig-zag occasionally missed one of the points so i got a straight line for one stitch then zig-zag continued. Also, for zig-zag I seemed to have very large needle holes, is this normal? it's way beyond anything I've seen on any garment.

So I'm wondering if these problems are due to tension, foot pressure or some such thing, or if the machine may need a service. Or maybe a new needle. Does anyone have any ideas?

I sewed with different colour top & bottom thread, so I'm certain the top wasn't pulled through to the bottom and vice versa. I was sewing on the thin section of a bambino mio prefold (hurrah! i finally found a use for them!). When I folded the thin section over itself and tried to sew 2x thicknesses of it, the needle didn't want to go through.... would that be normal or should it go through that?

The machine has tons of settings (it's a husqvana computer 500, thanks to Ems for putting it on her Ebay finds!) so i don't know if i need to tinker with the settings more or what.

Thank you for any advice you can provide.

Mainly answering to bump so someone useful can come along and help. I might be talking rubbish as I have no experience with either your machine or a BM prefold!

But, Google tells me, a prefold is four layers of cotton fabric at the outer edge. So you're trying to sew through eight layers of cotton? That sounds quite thick, so it might be worth trying a larger needle - maybe a size 16? I've just completed a project that required my Husky to go through eight layers of fabric (two of them denim); I used a denim needle and it coped really easily.

The needle could also be the cause of the skipping zig zag. Or, of course, a zig zag/straight/zig zag setting might be an option on your machine (it sounds like one on mine for a blind hem).

Thanks Nichola.

It's definitely a normal zig-zag setting that i'm using. I've got no idea what needle it is using, it came with one in so i'm just using that. When it's skipping, i'm just on the outer layer (not doubled) so maybe 4 layers. They're very thin though as they're ancient and have been used on 5+ children.

Will look into getting new needles, but don't yet know where to start really. My first project will be some bv-zorb boosters, so probably 3 or maybe 4 layers.

I would definately look to get some new sharp needles. Normal needles in a variety of sizes 12-16 for woven fabrics and some ball point needles if you are going to work with knit fabrics eg BV.
Try getting some med weight cotton woven (an old pillowcase) and test your machine stitching on a doubled layer.
If you have large needle holes it might be that you are using a needle that is too big. However if it is also having problems going thru multiple layers you might have tension or stitch length problems.

my machine didnt like mio prefolds either. I wouldjust try one layer of cotton for the purposes of seeing what your new machine can do. And you may find new sharp needles make all the difference!
What fun though. Enjoy! I learned to sew this year and had loads of greattips and inspiration from here.

Definitely get new needles - on a 2nd hand machine there's a very big chance they'll be worn out!

Two layers of prefold is very thick - my machine wouldn't cope with that.

Congratulations BTW!

Can't wait to see your creations!!