What Is a Sewing Machine Throat Plate?

Sewing machine throat plate is one of the basic components found in sewing machines. It is also referred to as stitching plate or needle plate. Throat plate is made of metal placed below machines needle and presser foot. Throat plate is fixed on the machine using screws.

Throat plate is made up of the following components.

• Slit
• Needle Hole.
• Screw

Features of Throat Plate.

• Throat plate in sewing machines has slots or holes where the needle passes through. The needle moves upwards or downwards as it stitches the fabric. Throat plate will help accommodate different positions of the needle and beautiful stitches present in the machine.
• Throat plate has two or more openings that are large. The function of the throat plate opening is to allow the feed dogs built in the sewing machine to emerge and grip fabric as it moves forward when sewing is taking place. Note that feed dogs are lowered when carrying out tasks like darning, quilting techniques and freehand sewing.
• Through the openings on the throat plate it is possible to see feed dogs that are stretching upward especially through the rectangular openings.
• Throat plate has an important function of providing smooth surface where fabric will pass as its being sewed.

Difference in Throat Plates.

The difference in throat plates will depend on type and functions the sewing machine is designed to do. The differences include:

• Some throat plates are rectangular in shape and are placed under pressure foot in different sewing machines.
• Depending on design purpose some throat plates have oval extensions and a straight side especially on the right side.
• Some throat plate are entirely oval, while others come in different shapes as long as they can fulfill the set objectives.

Markings of Throat Plates on Sewing Machines.

Throat plates have grooved lines that are closely spaced on the right side. Grooves are act as guidelines when creating seams that vary in width. Some grooves are accurate, but for quilting it is advised to use quarter inch seam allowance. Always check the accuracy of the markings. Quilters will prefer quarter inch foot pressers when making quilts even so they still test accuracy of pressure foot.

When to Remove Throat Plate from Sewing Machine.

Sewing machines need to be cleaned. For this reason throat plates should be removed and the area underneath cleaned. This is because lint forms from fabrics and thread as they pass through the machine.

For different machine brands throat plate is removed in order to access machine’s bobbin. Throat pates come in two different parts. The removable part should be easy to open without having to loosen screws.

Take Away.

For throat plates to be efficient ensure bobbin thread is not under the pieces being sewn. Always pull threads from bobbin area, this way the feed dogs and needle will not push them underneath throat plate. If the threads are not pulled they will cause jam and the sewing machine will malfunction. Chain piecing is used to prevent the jam.