My Janome JD1818 will sew in reverse but not forward.

Here are the steps to sew a buttonhole on the Janome New Home My Excel 18W/MW3018 sewing machine:

1. Attach the buttonhole foot to the machine.
2. Place the button in the back of the buttonhole foot and adjust the foot so that the button fits snugly.
3. Select the buttonhole stitch on the machine. It may be a buttonhole symbol or a number corresponding to the buttonhole stitch.
4. Set the stitch length to the desired length for the buttonhole. The machine may have preset lengths or you can adjust it manually.
5. Place the fabric under the foot and lower the foot.
6. Sew the first side of the buttonhole. Stop the machine when it reaches the end of the buttonhole.
7. Sew the second side of the buttonhole, stopping at the end.
8. Use a seam ripper or scissors to open the buttonhole carefully.
9. Remove the fabric from the machine and trim any loose threads.

Make sure to practice on a scrap piece of fabric before sewing the buttonhole on your project.

Janome has the manual for the JD1818 on their retired machines site: https://www.janome.com/support/retired-machine-manuals/ . The current link to the manual is https://www.janome.com/siteassets/support/manuals/retired/other-models/inst-book-jd1818.pdf . If you prefer a printed copy, you can purchase it here: https://www.sewingpartsonline.com/instruction-manual-janome-jd1818.aspx? . Alternatively, put the PDF from Janome's site on a USB flash drive. Take it to a local print shop (Kinkos, UPS store) and they'll print and bind the file for you.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

Make sure the stitch length is set higher than 2. Also make sure the feed dogs have not been inadvertently dropped for darning. If the feed dogs are up and moving back and forth, they are working okay but may have a lot of lint and dust inhibiting them from biting the fabric.

Are you sewing very fine or slick fabric? Frequently, that will cause the fabric to slip under the presser foot. Check your machine to see if you can adjust the pressure on the presser foot. If not, then try laying a piece of wax paper or vellum with the fabric. It can be easily removed after stitching.

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here is a link to click on for parts and a manual for the machine

http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/janome-jd1818-sewing-machine-parts.aspx

You have the reverser in the back stitch setting. When you do an over lock stitch you change the feed direction. It should be a lever. Some have a screw lock to keep it in place.

You can find it here:
http://ifixmachines.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=3115&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=54

1/28/13 - I have Janome Harmony 2049 that was initially sewing forward with no reverse and then after about 12 inches of sewing would ONLY sew in reverse. After spending an hour getting the plastic housing off...I was able to locate the shaft that made the reverse. It needed lubrication and after working it in and unjamming the part from the down position, the forward and reverse now work!
Huh, right? Hope it continues to work well. It is a smooth running machine, otherwise. Good luck!

Make sure you do not have the stitch selector dial set on buttonhole, this will make it sew in reverse.

I couldn't find my manual for the Dual Sew 3500, either, and long story short, I discovered the manufacturer of Dual Sew is the parent company of Janome; that the Janome 4618 Limited Edition is virtually the same machine; wrote to Janome and they emailed me the PDF manual for th 4618LE. What a relief.

Darning would normally be done with the triple stretch stich, the one that is a zig-zag broken up into three stitches right and then three stitches left. See-through Zig-Zag foot. Zig-Zag set at it's widest. Feed set to about 1/16-1/8 inch (1.5-3mm) and darn by sewing forward a bit, adjust fabric, and then backward by pressing and holding the reverse button. Continue back and forth until you've created a darned box. For extra strength, turn fabric 90 degrees and repeat over same area.