How do you sew a straight seam?

Howdy!

Here's a lesson on this:

[I like it when someone takes something we've been doing for years and makes it "official" by publishing it (online) and giving it a name. ]

Goes right along w/ Chain Piecing:

I figure that I could sew each seam individually, remove it from the machine

Thank you so much Sandy. These are marvellous. I have saved the sites, and I will study them and make notes. I don't very often make block-type quilts, but I'm sure I can adapt the instructions to the various things I do do. It's very kind of you to take the time to find and list these.

Funnily enough, I do have a miniature 9-patch in my sights; so I will have some repetitive 'stuff' to be doing soon! . In message , Sandy Ellison writes

Thanks Roberta. I will shock you when I say that I would never have thought of saving binding strip 'cut-offs'. And - I haven't thought that I am a wasteful person. I have a bit of re-thinking to do, I can see! Thanks for the pointers here. Have you seen the sites that Sandy suggested? Great info. there, too. . In message , Roberta Zollner writes

I use beginners and enders a lot of the time. Mostly when I'm sewing really small stuff. And that makes sense because I don't seem to have the problem when I'm chain piecing - until I get to the last piece! So that may very well solve my problem!

Cindy

I helped at our County Extension Kids Sewing Camp a few weeks ago and they did this as well. Straight lines the first day, curved lines the next day. One day they sewed over circles, it really helped them.

But my problem is just that last inch. I'm going to try all the suggestions here and find one that works.

Thanks, everybody, you guys are great!

Cindy

You know, we all have given lots of ideas on how to but none of us really SAID how to. One stitch at a time: on my machine and can only pick up on bite of thread for each stitch by hand.

Butterfly (too hot to run outside and there's NO running in)

Sorry! RTW is ready-to-wear [clothing]. And yes, the fabric handling is done by holding the hand and fingers in what looks like a strange way, but works very well. Left hand guides, right hand controls. It's the way I wish I'd learned to sew, instead of wrestling fabric and using 157 pins and much bad language.

I don't use this for piecing small patches (with something like a 2" piece, there's just not much to get hold of!), but I do use it whenever there's enough fabric to hold properly. It's probably easiest to see results on long seams, though.

For precise seams on tiny pieces, try using a bamboo skewer or a wooden cuticle stick to help control the fabric under the presser foot. If you accidentally hit the stick with the needle, you're not going to do any real damage. Keeps you from getting your fingers whacked with the needle clamp, too.

Kay

Sunny, I'm 46 and learned to sew in school. A few years ago I taught a lady how to sew so she could make simple 11th century costumes. Within a month she was sewing not only simple costumes but also home decor items, and before 6 months was up she was up to complex costumes that I could not make and earning money making quick simple costumes for other people.

To fill in her basic sewing knowledge she read beginner books written for older children and teenagers because those books are more likely to explain basics than ones written for adults. Books written for adults often assume the reader already knows the basics. So Sunny, look for a beginning sewing book and a beginning quilting book written for teenagers and you will learn more than enough basics. Everything after that is just trial and error learning. Debra in VA See my quilts at

One of the very best basic sewing books I have seen is "Simplicity's Simply the Best Sewing Book". It has very clear diagrams/illustrations, is organized alphabetically, has a "how to read a pattern envelope/pattern" section, a how to measure for and buy a pattern, and so on. Very good reference for anyone who sews. I have a lot of sewing books, all different levels and all different types, this is the one I most recommend. (NAYY)

(Oh, it is 'comb' bound, so it lays flat, and runs around $15. if I remember correctly.)

Pati, >

My DD used the Mary Frances Sewing Book (and has since read the other adventures but still loves the sewing book most) ... it has adorable patterns that are meant for young sewers. My daughter had an absolute ball making them!

The cute story is just the icing on the cake ... I read the story and loved it! :)

I just made a reversible braded table runner consisting of 64 1" tubes, each 45" long with a 1/4" seam on each side.

To sew them I used my 1/4" piecing foot but to get them done quickly I also set up a little stack (about 12) of post-it notes with the sticky side towards the needle, and positioned carefully so the they made a 'stop' of sorts, set in at 1/4" from the needle. This allowed me to sew those suckers at full speed, setting the edge along the post-it 'ledge.'

-Irene

Two helpful things that I can add.

First of all, there are two kinds of 1/4" stitch methods. There is a special foot that is 1/4 inch from the center needle position to the edge of the foot that, I believe, is intended for top stitching and machine quilting and use with a center hole sole plate. There is another "1/4 inch stitch" that is intended to be used with the regular foot, where the 1/4" stitch moves the needle over from center and you use the slotted sole plate. The way you can tell the difference is that the "1/4 inch FOOT" (often) does NOT cover all the feed dogs on most machines - it doesn't need to, since, when top stitching or quilting, you are not sewing on the edge of the fabric, but on top of several layers. The "1/4 inch STITCH" is intended to sew at the edge of a seam, using all of the feed dogs to guide the edges of the layers of fabric. I have seen students struggle with these two tools, because the 1/4" FOOT, when used to sew seams will send the fabric in several directions, since only some of the feed dogs are moving the fabric. A simple switch to the regular foot and the moved needle solves this particular problem. You will need to check your own machine to see if this is causing you grief.

Second, you need to get in the habit of looking about 1/4" to 1/2" IN FRONT of your needle when guiding the fabric. Once the fabric is under the needle, it is too late to correct any problems and it tends to lead to overcorrecting back and forth. If you watch in front of the needle, maybe even with some of the raised edge devices, you have a chance to fix any errors before they get sewn. (I also tend to give a Very Slight pull on the seams (read Very Slight - gentle resistance) when they are being sewn, to keep them guiding straight. I do not let the machine pull the fabric through completely freely. A gentle amount of resistance keeps things gliding straight for me.)

I'm sure there are lots of other tips from the pros in here. Good Luck! Lorraine in La Center

Lorraine in La Center

Thank You, Loraine, for the hint about moving the needle over on the standard foot to sew a 1/4 inch seam. I tried it and it did tend to sew a straight seam with much less tendancy to pull the fabric. I think I had learned to compensate on my machine to counteract that tendancy to skew the fabric when it passed under the foot plate due to the full contact of the left dog and the partial contact of the right dog. I did not have to compensate in the feeding of the fabric and made a lot of perfectly formed 1/4 inch seams tonight. My other seams were good but these were definately better with less struggle to make them so. I guess if you learn something new every day you can be happy and this is my one thing I learned today that made me happy.

Thanks,

John