MANY machine problems. Please help!!

I'm working on a bunch of projects and my machine is freaking out.

Problem 1: Even when I pin well the top layer of whatever I'm sewing slips to the left and stretches as I sew so that when I get to the end of a piece the top layer is a bit longer than the bottom. I've tried adjusting my presser foot pressure and it doesn't seem to help. Or maybe what's happening is that the bottom layer is slipping to the right. Either way it all ends up uneven. The problem seems to be getting worse over time.

Problem 2: I worked on a table runner recently. I had it all finished except for the quilting. I started with straight line quilting. The problem I mentioned above with the layers shifting was extremely bad and since I had made the runner by sewing layers together, turning right sides out and sewing around the edge before quilting I couldn't just let the layer get off and trim up it later. This leads to problem 3...

Problem 3: So I switched to my walking foot and thought I'd try to free hand the "straight" lines. I started sewing and it started getting all loopy on the back. I adjusted the tension and it got better but I had to set the tension so high that the thread kept breaking. If I set it any lower it got all loopy again. The slipping problem was still happening as well so I just did a few little circles of quilting to tack the whole thing together and called it quits.

So is this just me not knowing how the heck to use a sewing machine? or is there something I don't know how to adjust? or can I finally convince my husband that I really really NEED a new machine. It's an old Singer by the way. Old as in from the late 70's. I can get more details on the model if that would help.

Thanks for any ideas you can offer.

You might want to consider taking it in for a "tune-up". Sometimes different areas of your machine are a little off which results in the issues you are having. A good repair shop will return all parts to their balanced position. You may not need to buy a new machine.
If you still want to try adjusting things yourself, some things I would do is:

- Take your bobbin and housing out and clean it thoroughly. A little length of thread stuck somewhere can cause the bobbin tension issues you are having.

- Oil any metal moving parts. Your manual should have some suggestions of areas you should oil.

- Re-thread everything starting with a new spool of thread, a new bobbin and a new needle. One suggestion here is for you to change the type of bobbin, i.e. if you were using plastic, change to a metal bobbin or vice versa.

- And lastly, for your pressure foot: you really need to play around with this to see a significant difference. All the machines I have used that have an adjustable foot require alot of adjustment to see any affect in the way the fabric moves through the machine.

Good luck! 

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I'll clean everything out and fiddle around with all of the things you both mentioned and see if that helps. I'd love to get it serviced but the last time I took it in they told me a full service would cost $150. I think I'd rather save that money to put towards a new machine.

Just one more question...if the slipping and some amount of unevenness is normal then how do people get such precisely matching seams?

So far I've stuck with more wonky and improvisational patterns b/c there's no way I could ever get tiny little squares and triangles to match up with my machine as it is.