Originally Posted by mpeters1200
Here's another newbie question. What are cams? How do they make decorative stitches? Would you use them on a straight stitch machine or does it have to zig zag to make them work. I'm real curious.
We all love questions - everyone learns from them. Since I never had to explain what a cam is before I looked it up so I could explain it better than 'it is a little round disc that allows some machines to form straight and decorative stitches.' Machines that use 'cams' generally can't stitch even a straight stitch without a cam inserted before you begin to sew.
Here is a better stated explanation!
http://www.bovil.com/index.php?optio...d=21&Itemid=48
They explain cam as "an irregular wheel with one or two bands of indentations which allows a mechanical sewing machine to sew multi step and decorative stitches."
Nancy
Can one of you guys post some pictures of a cam to better explain what a cam is? A picture of a machine with a cam inserted would really be great. Maybe, I will try and do that tomorrow -- too busy right now trying to finish a quilt's binding!