Piecing stitch
#1
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Grass Lake, MI and Bradenton, FL
Posts: 785
Piecing stitch
I have a Babylock Ellegante sewing machine. Amoung the many stitches is a piecing stitch which places the needle a scant 1/4 inch from the edges of my regular presser foot so that a special 1/4 inch foot is not necessary. However, the backstitch function doesn't work with the piecing stitch. I 'm wondering if that's because you're not supposed to backstitch when piecing quilts? Is this true? If so, if you make a mistake in a small portion of the seam (flipped seam allowance, uneven seam, etc) how do you fix it? Do you take out the whole seam and restitch, or do you take out only enough stitches to enable you to correct the error and restitch only that portion of the seam.? If it's the latter do you backstitch at the beginning and ending of the corrected area to secure the stitching? I'm referring to seams that are connecting two rows of blocks or patches.
Last edited by janjanq; 10-19-2017 at 05:32 AM.
#2
I start and stop before and after the current stitching line by about 1/2 inch, so for about 1/2 inch before the new stitching and after the new stitching there will be 2 stitch lines on top of each other.
#3
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 9,729
This is how I do it. If you are really worried and can't backstitch, perhaps there's a lock stitch you can use.
#5
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Blue Ridge Mountians
Posts: 7,075
Look again at your piecing stitch picture on your machine. If it has 2 dots above it, it means you will sew in reverse when you hit the reverse / reinforcement button.
If it has just 1 dot above , it means you will only stitch a lock stitch when you hit the reverse/reinforcement button.
I don't see any straight stitch pictures with no dots above them.
Note that the reverse/reinforcement button is different than the start/stop button. Are you maybe forgetting to choose this when beginning to stitch?
If it has just 1 dot above , it means you will only stitch a lock stitch when you hit the reverse/reinforcement button.
I don't see any straight stitch pictures with no dots above them.
Note that the reverse/reinforcement button is different than the start/stop button. Are you maybe forgetting to choose this when beginning to stitch?
#8
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,139
Generally, I don't worry about back stitching when making a block; short stitches take care of most of that.
However, if a quilt has many, many seams at the edges, then I will stitch around the 1/8th to 1/4 edges of an inch in from the edges of the quilt to ensure that it doesn't come apart.
That only had to happen once for me to learn my lesson.
However, if a quilt has many, many seams at the edges, then I will stitch around the 1/8th to 1/4 edges of an inch in from the edges of the quilt to ensure that it doesn't come apart.
That only had to happen once for me to learn my lesson.
#9
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Morris Plains, NJ
Posts: 1,803
I chain stitch when I piece and leave about 1/4” between pieces. When I cut them apart, I do not cut at the piece but so that there is a tail of a few stitches beyond. I feel this would be less likely to come apart. I also use a smaller stitch, like a 2 to 2.1 on my machines.
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