I have been struggling with the "scant" 1/4 as well, tried all kinds of things, and nothing seemed to help. JUST found out today (while trying to resolve a tension issue) that my Elna Supermatic will allow me to move the needle to the right (and to the left, point in fact)! Using the edge of the basic pressure foot, I come up with a near perfect scant 1/4! (the 'near' part is due to operator error, as usual!)