Using an invisible zip foot my machine jams after a few stitches. It doesn't jam with any other foot, and when I sewed with the foot on a scrap of fabric with no zip as a test

Fabric jamming in your machine may be caused by the feed dogs. The feed dogs are those tiny teeth along the sewing machine underneath the presser foot as those teeth pull the fabric through when the needle is making stitches. Lint or debris in the feed dog area can jam the mechanisms preventing them to move.

https://sewingmadesimple.net/why-does-my-sewing-machine-keep-jamming/

just found this on the internet...
Fabric jamming in your machine may be caused by the feed dogs. The feed dogs are those tiny teeth along the sewing machineunderneath the presser foot as those teeth pull the fabric through when the needle is making stitches.24 Feb 2016

Why Does My Sewing Machine Keep Jamming?•Sewing Made Simple

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Good evening to you and your sewing machine.
If you have the manual there is probably a certain program for doing the hem this way in the machine.
If you are a little nervous of using the machine to do the hem you could do it by hand with what was called in my younger days " invisible stitch" or you can practice on a piece of cloth in the machine, take a look here Magic Invisible Closure and here
Hand Sewing Stitches How to Sew Hidden Stitch
If you do not have the manual handy you can always get it here Free User Manuals and Owners Guides ManualsOnline com

sounds as if your bobbin is getting caught up not feeding right , also had some luck in past adding clear tape to cover serrated foot for finer fabrics and things like real silks and such but it has to be replaced a lot

A transcript from the Elna SU manual reads as follows, and the manual can be viewed on line at http://sewingonline.co.uk/instructions/elnasp/

First make a few trial runs with a scrap of material exactly as the buttonhole will be stitched, with the machine adjusted as you intend to use it.
1. Use the embroidery and buttonhole foot. It can be chnged without a screwdriver by using the fixation screw.- With the stitch width knob at "0", turn the selector to zigzag "1".
2. De-center the needle to the left.
3. Set the stitch width knob at 2, with the solid mark on top.
4. Set the stitch length dial between 1/2 and 1/4.
5. a) Mark the desired length on the material.
b) Sew the first side of the buttonhole. Stop with the needle in the material and the mark (right).
c) Raise the foot and pivot the material round the needle. Lower the foot and raise the needle.
6. a) Set the stitch width knob at 4.
b) Sew a few stitches. Raise the needle.
7. a) Set the stitch width knob at 2.
b) Sew the second side and stop just short of the length of the first. Raise the needle.
8. a) Set the stitch width knob at 4.
b) Finish off the buttonhole by sewing a few stitches. Raise the needle.
9. a) Set the stitch width knob at "0".
b) Sew a few stitches to fasten the threads, holding the material back by hand.
10. Open with the buttonhole knife, which you will find in the accessory box.

once it jammed it jammed the gears inside also, witch maybe plastic.
If thats the case it maybe toast!

The needle either not moving or stopping is a sign that the machine is jamming. Here's the answer for the question "My machine is jammed" from the FAQs on Singer's web site at http://www.singerco.com/support/faqs.html

A jammed machine is caused by thread being caught in the hook. Remove the upper thread and the bobbin case, turn the hand wheel towards you (counterclockwise) by hand and remove any thread in the bobbin case area. *Always turn the hand wheel towards you. Turning the hand wheel away from you (clockwise) can cause the machines timing to become unaligned and jam your machine. Also, always make sure the presser foot is in the down position before you start sewing. Sewing with the presser foot in the up position will jam your machine in the bobbin case.

Your description of the needle hitting the plate or foot is an indication that the machine's timing has become unaligned which can be caused as indicated above by turning the hand wheel away from you - the correct way is to *Always turn the hand wheel towards you.

Clean the bobbin area.

Thread the machine with the presser foot up - always,

Make sure the bobbin thread is feeding clockwise and through the guides on the bobbin case.

Lower the threaded needle down and back up while holding onto the thread end. This will pull the bobbin thread up. Hold onto both threads and pull under the presser foot and to the back of the sewing machine.

Hold on to the thread ends and lower the needle into the fabric, then press the foot pedal.

You may want to use a leader - a folded scrap of fabric that you sew to the edge of and then **** against the fabric you want to sew. Sew off the leader and onto the fabric and this will keep the thread from going down into the machine. You can have a few stitches between the two to make it easy to cut the leader away.

When you stop to adjust the fabric make sure the needle is down to anchor the fabric (turning corners, sewing a curve. etc).

The slightest movement of the fabric when the needle is up will sometimes cause a thread jam.

Hi! I've had this happen to me many times and it is so very frustrating! First, take the bobbin out and also the bobbin assembly and clean the entire area of all lint, fuzz, little bits of thread....get it as clean as you can. Take out the upper thread too. Clean and oil. Change the needle. Make sure you're using the appropriate size and type of needle and thread for the fabric. Take off the needle plate and look for any nicks or scratches. If you've got them, you can get emery cloth from a good hardware store (often in the plumbing department) and polish them out (or mostly out).

Rethread the machine, carefully following the instruction manual. Use your basic, normal settings. Using a scrap of the fabric you're trying to gather, sew a seam and see if everything works ok. You may need to hold the top and bobbin thread firmly behind the needle as you sew the first few stitches (I find this little trick helps a lot to prevent birdsnests).

To gather, sew three parallel lines of long, basting stitches (you really don't need a special foot or special settings other than to make the stitch a long one). Don't backstitch, reverse, or lockstitch either end, and leave the thread long when you cut it. Pull the three bobbin threads and the fabric with gather nicely along them.

Something to keep in mind--if you're trying to gather very sheer fabric on a zigzag machine, you may need to replace the throat plate with the zigzag hole for a throat plate with a single, small hole for a straight stitch. I've run into this situation before, and ended up using one of my antique straight-stitch only machines to do the gathering.

If you don't have a throat plate with the single hole, you might try some light weight interfacing to give some density to the sheet fabric.


Hope this helps!

Take the foot off and check for a small burr in the area that pushes the material through. If there is a burr, it will get caught, especially on lace. The burr can be removed with a very fine abrasive stone or the emery srea from a match pack.