Inherited my Mum's old Neecchi 544. Can't move the stitch changer dial. It seems fixed. Help - how do I move the black dial?

Check your upper thread at the spool. I've had industrial machines randomly throw a loop around the spool holder spindle which is hidden under the spool itself.

Also check your threading guide to be absolutely certain you are threading it correctly. Also make sure needle/thread diameter are suitable for each other.

Good luck.

take the machine back & get another one

Get some scrap fabric. One dial is for the width of the zig zag stitch, the other dial is for the length of any stitch. First set both to ZERO. It won't move then set one to half way. This will show you which dial is which. If it is the width dial. You'll get a bar tack. If it is the length dial you'll get straight stitches.

it's possible that the tension dial has gone bad & needs to be replaced
at a sewing machine repair shop

First, make sure you select the straight stitch setting on the round dial. It is the one that has the dashed lines, looking like the stitch itself. Then, you may also want to be sure that the stitch WIDTH (dial with the picture that looks like a straight line gradually turning into a zig-zag) to the lowest setting, which is generally 0. With some machines, even after selecting a straight stitch setting, moving the stitch width can change needle position. Sometimes it will initiate the zig zag, other times it will move needle position left to right. Does that fix it?

As to your question about leather, the 6460 has a special stitch for sewing leather. Select Colormatic cam C and install in the cam hole at the back of the machine. To remove/add a cam turn the upper left hand dial on the front of the machine to the small dot. This disengages the cam. Gently remove the cam by pulling straight out from the back of the machine. Install cam C straight in, ever so slightly twisting it back and forth into the hole to find the sweet spot. You'll hear a click when it's all the way in.

To use Viking's leather stitch, turn the upper left dial to the color yellow. (Note: The slash line on the upper left dial is a stop. You can't turn past that point. Go in the other direction to get to the icon or color you want.) Turn the upper right and bottom right dial to yellow also. The upper left dial is what selects the particular stitch on the cam, the leather stitch in this case. The upper right dial selects stitch length, and the lower right dial selects stitch width. You can move the right dials within the color range. Experiment on a scrap of cloth to get the stitch size the way you want it. The leather stitch looks like a straight stitch with a block style edging to the right of the straight stitch. This is supposed to give a stronger stitch to the leather rather than a straight stitch by itself.
If you don't have the manual for your machine: Select which of the eight cams you want to use. All the cams are removed/installed by turning the upper left dial on machine front to the small dot. At the rear of the machine, pull/insert cam straight in or out and twist slightly as you push in or remove to find the sweet spot. Move the dial away from the small dot to lock the cam in.
Turn upper left dial to stitch type you want and match the other dials to that same color. Upper right controls stitch length, lower right controls width. Bobbin tension is controlled by the dial at front left of the machine, above the needle.
Cams A-C are the workhorse cams and the rest are embroidery stitches.Straight stitch, button and stitched zig-zag will work on any cam. These stitches do not rely on matching a color code. To use those three: To select straight stitch, on the upper left dial, choose the icon that looks like a buttonhole with a zig that trails off to the right. Select stitch length on upper right dial and turn the lower right dial to zero, going by number rather than color.
To select stitched zig zag, turn upper left dial to the broken zig zag icon (to the right of the straight stitch icon). Select stitch length and width.
To move the needle to the side for buttonhole stitching or other times when you want the needle off center, turn the upper left dial to the button icon. If stitching a button hole, set stitch length to zero and lower right dial to desired stitch width. Push in the small white button that's beneath the lower right dial in order to prevent the feed dogs from moving the fabric forward. Pushing that button in is also handy for putting cloth under the foot before sewing as it prevents snagging and is used for tacking.

sounds like you have a broken zigzag gear in the top of machine. could be something in the dial is broken . not sure.

It sounds like your upper tension is too loose. A good place to start adjusting is at the number three on your tension dial, but you need to pay attention to how the stitches look rather than what the number on the dial is. I wrote a Tip on Adjusting Tension. Take a look at that and see if it helps.

Robbie

I'd suggest that you join the Yahoo user group for Heirloom Elnas, the members are very helpful and share images of manuals and their experience. You should be able to download a copy of the supermatic manual from here once you've joined up.

Is your supermatic a green model like this one?


or there is a white with blue top supermatic from the Star Series, it looks like this


If its the star series, you'll see above a round knob with red and black numbers, this is the stitch length dial. Red is reverse, black is forwards. The lever just to the left is the stitch width lever and the round dial to left again is the needle position dial.

If its the green model then the dials and knobs are in different places but they work in a similar fashion.

Good luck wiht your machine.l

I have been provided with the solution by Brother.

If I turn the Stitch Length dial to "SS" I can select stitches from 10 onwards.

Wish they could have put that in the manual!.