Start with how the control is used, because two designs behave quite differently.
Most reverse levers and buttons must be held down for as long as you want reverse. Release and the machine goes forward again. Some computerised machines instead have a button that sews a fixed number of reverse stitches and stops, and a few have a lock-stitch button that ties off in place without reversing at all. Check which yours is before deciding it is broken.
Then check the stitch selected. Many decorative and stretch stitches do not reverse — the machine ignores the control or substitutes a lock stitch. Test on a plain straight stitch.
Then check the feed. If the machine reverses but the fabric does not move backwards, that is a feeding problem: dropped feed dogs, lint packed in the feed slots, or too little presser foot pressure. Reverse feed is shallower than forward feed on many machines, so it fails first when the dogs are dirty.
Then check the stitch length setting. On machines where reverse is the dial pushed past zero, a length set near zero gives reverse stitches so short they look like no movement.
Then look for a mechanical fault. A lever with no resistance, or one that stays down, has a broken spring or linkage. It is a repair rather than an adjustment.
In the meantime you can work without it. Shorten the stitch to about 1 mm for the first and last centimetre of a seam. It locks the ends as well as reverse stitching and looks neater on visible work.
Questions people actually ask
My reverse stitches wander off the seam line.
Normal. Hold the fabric steady rather than steering while reversing, and keep it to three or four stitches — a long reverse run always drifts.
Does reverse feed the same distance as forward?
Not exactly on most domestic machines, which is why reverse stitches rarely sit precisely on the forward ones. It is inside the seam allowance and does not matter.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11