the pic of how it is bunched is the last pic of my 2 posts

i am working on my 2nd tee shirt quilt... but am having some difficulty... i had the same problem and was happy with the turn out of my first quilt (IT FINALLY GOT FINISHED)... but was wondering if anyone on here might have any tips of how to smooth out this problem... i am still very new at this and any tip will be appreciated

i am in the sashing part of the quilt

i pin the stuff together, start to sew, reverse to lock it in (?), and then when i get a bit past the first pin, it starts to bunch up (i guess), i end up taking out the remaining two pins and adjusting, holding the tee shirt and sashing together and continue sewing, usually having to adjust a few more times... and then when i am finished with that particular square it does not lay flat... i have attached pics... i am sewing with a cheap Singer Prelude from Target

any help would be great TY

also the sashing is a green snowflake... to me it looked like a lace of some sort in the pic... but it isnt

Oh, yeah, you need to use your evenfeed. Don't have one yet? Maybe try loosening the tension a little. Maybe even try hand basting or machine basting and then going back to sewing it together.

Good luck, really, that's why my two son's t-shirts are still in the bins and not being worked up. lol

Sharon

It helps to first use fusible tricot underneath the t-shirt fabric to stabilize it. T-shirt fabric is stretchy, so you are stretching it as you sew. Try using a walking foot (feeds top and bottom fabric evenly) and/or sewing with a strip of tissue paper underneath.

You could also iron fusible tricot to each edge of t-shirt fabric before sewing to sashing; this would prevent stretching. Fusible tricot is available online and at fabric shops such as JoAnn's. It's a good idea to pre-shrink fusible tricot by holding a steam iron above it. After that, you could cut it into strips and then fuse it to the edges of the t-shirt blocks.

i dont know exactly what kind of interfacing i used... it was a mid weight one.. but i did use one to prevent stretching...

walking foots... i was looking at joanns sites and it said they were not available in stores... where should I look for one

ive heard them mentioned several times on here... and probably need to look into investing in one

are they universal? or as long as i buy the singer brand, should it fit my machine? or would it be more specific to the higher end machines?

are walking foots and even feeds the same? just a preference of what to call it?

Check target, walmart, kmart or sears for a walking foot.

ok... wish our walmart here near DFW still had the fabric sections... i know some do.. its hit or miss

was near galveston this weekend and there was a fabric section there... omg it had all of this fabric and stuff... it was so exciting to just browse... didnt need ne thing :D

Walking foot and even feed foot are the same.

You need to get one that fits your particular machine. Many machines will take a generic walking foot. A Bernina requires either its own walking foot or an adapter to accommodate a generic. Pfaff usually has a built-in walking foot. Other machines, I'm not so sure about......

Check to see if you have a local vacuum/sewing machine repair in your area, they usually carry a walking foot for most machines.. you need to get one that fits your specific machine..

I find it interesting that the cottonc fabric is the one that is bunching , instead of the stretchy T-shirt fabric, try changing the adjustment on your machine that puts downward pressure on the presser foot...not the thread tension, but the presser foot tension.. look in your manual to find this adjustment, it is very common to change this for different weights of fabric.

another idea is trying putting the pins along the edge about 1 inch apart, horizontally. that might help.

thanks for all the tips...
i will still look into the walking foot as im sure that it is something that i will eventually want to invest in...

i have turned the tension down and the fabric upside down (cotton touching feed dogs and tee/white interfacing on top) and that has seemed to help... they are laying flat and has been minimal bunching... or maybe i just cant see it...

One thing is, you're not using a walking or even feed foot, another is probably the machine (my opinion). I have an extra walking foot that I could loan you until you get another. If you would like, just PM me.

The second quilt I made was a T-shirt quilt for my DD. I call it the quilt from H***. At that time I had no idea what a walking foot was or the right stabilizer to use. Wish I had known about this site then. If I did it now I would have used a much lighter stabilizer and used my walking foot. No matter what, my DD loves that quilt. It is one of her favorites.

I haven't used interfacing, but for 12 and 1/2 inch blocks, I cut all of my sashings the same length. Then I pin, pin, pin, with the t-shirt against the feed dogs and the sashing against the presser foot. The feed dog usually eases the t-shirt to fit the sashing. I haven't used my walking foot for this, but the next time I will try it. I haven't had the problem you seem to be having. It seems that the t-shirt is being STRETCHED to fit the sashing. Perhaps your stitch is too short. Also, I would try lifting up a little on your presser foot tension

Nancy's Notions and Clotilde catalogs have them. Check their sites online.

I have not had that problem with the t-shirt quilt I am making, but yours sounds like tension problem. I have not had to use my walking foot, but will keep that in mind. I can not imagine not using stablizer on the back of the t-shirts.

I just finished a huge tshirt quilt myself. And, I would say by looking at your pics that your fusing looks great from the top but, here's what I did. I did not put my 'pins' the direction I was sewing. I put them in towards the fabric, I guess down by your pics instead of running them the same direction as your strip. Also, I used my 1/4" sewing foot. It did great for me. (The one w/the guide on the edge) If you have that...you might try it. With your pins running the same way as your fabric is being sewn, it gives it too much movement (in my opinion) and doesn't stop the stretching of the fabric. Keep us posted:)Skeat

Also, don't forget to press that strip when done sewing. You might be amazed how the tshirt fabric will work w/it once ironed:0)S

I have done several t-shirt quilts.. to me it looks like you need a better stabilizer. You could try ironing on some butcher paper so that you do not get the stretch, it will come off right after you sew it. Also use heavy starch on the sashing that will help it hold also and slide thru the machine better. I did use starch on the t-shirts also.

Maybe you should use a walking foot to make the fabric pull at the same time. I've also heard using a stablizer on the tee shirt fabric will help

I haven't read all of the posts, but I feel compelled to reply right now. I'm on my fourth t-shirt quilt,but this is the first one that I use stabilizer on the back of the shirts. When it came to sewing the sashing (actually I'm sewing a narrow border around each t-shirt before using the actual sashing). In garment construction I learned a long time ago to put the piece that is a little bigger (longer, most give, etc) closest to the feed dog. So I place the strip on the bottom and the t-shirt on top.(I pin at the beginning of the seam, about the middle, and at the end) As you are stitching the seam, just give a little tension (not really pulling to stretch) and keep on sewing (I use a regular quarter inch presser foot -- the one with the little metal guide on the bottom). Remember to place your pins perpendicular to the seam and remove the pin as you get to it. The feed dogs will gently ease the strip and your seam will be great. When you steam press, the extra fullness will be pressed flat.

edit: I've found that if the t-shirt has one of those 'rubberized" pictures on it, that will cause a little drag and the pieces will not feed well, so I kinda roll the block with the picture inside and hold the roll to guide the block through for the seam.