the answer seems to be to switch machines. my basic janome's presser foot is just too wide, and because i can't switch the needle position to the right there's just no way to get the fabric to stay on the right line while stitching. all my black lines end up 1/8" too thick. it didn't really matter so much in the completed sections, but now that i am working on the little tiny tile sections it's throwing everything off.
normally i wouldn't matter about it, but this part of the design looks wonky when it needs to look dead straight.
luckily i have a singer 401 machine i bought for my daughter about a year ago. i got it all tuned up and we haven't used it yet. i tried it last night. the presser foot is more narrow, the feed dogs more true and it is as straight a stitch as i have ever seen. the only thing is...this is a more difficult project than i have undertaken before and now i'm working with a new machine instead of my "old cozy slipper" machine that i know so well.
and to complain - i thought maybe i had done something wrong, so i recut (using scissors this time thinking the rotary cutter was causing bowing over the two seams) and resewed the strips for the little tiles before i had the eureka moment about why things weren't working. now do i rip the stitches on 36-2 inch pieces or cut and redo for the third time?
HAHAHAH! sigh.
aileen
Last edited by stillclock; 01-18-2014 at 11:19 AM.