To save yourself time, have you ever tried putting several strips of masking tape to make a "dam" at the 1/4" inch spot on your face plate? Or, you can use a pad of extra sticky post-its at the 1/4" line. Put your favorite ruler under your machine needle and lower it gently on the closest 1/4" line to the edge and line it up with the face plate. Slide the post-its up against the ruler and stick it down. Or, put a strip of masking tape along the ruler. Then, remove the ruler and keep putting strips of masking tape on top of the first strip, making sure that they are evenly aligned. Do this until you have a substantial pile of strips, enough to guide your strips through the machine. It can be as long as you need to have it so as to keep the fabric from wobbling. Hope this helps.