HELP!! tired of ripping
 

I am starting my second quilt and having trouble getting the seams to match up. They match perfectly when I pin but aren't matched after sewing. I am pinning through the seam, front to back and everything looks great so I baste and it's not good, every seam is off by about 1/16 all the way down . There must be a trick or something I am missing, thanks, Arlene

Your sewing machine probably does not feed the upper and lower layers evenly.

Have you tried glue basting? I do this on the ironing board. Take a pin straight down through the two seams and into the ironing board. Place a tiny dot of Elmer's washable school glue (white glue) inside the seam allowance. Use hot iron on the seam for a few seconds to set the glue. Remove pin. Glue secures the seam for me better than a pin does.

When you take the pieces to the sewing machine, pay attention as you sew and see if the presser foot is pushing the top fabric into the seam. If it is, you will see a little ripple on top as you come to the glue. On some machines you can adjust the presser foot pressure to lighten it up. This is also why some people use a walking foot while piecing -- to make sure the two layers are feeding evenly.

Boy, Prism you are so helpful. Everyone on this board is!

What a great idea!!! Thank You so much!!

What size pins are you using? I had much more success when I switched from pins with large heads to super fine pins for seam intersections.

http://chocolatecakequiltdesigns.wor...atchwork-pins/

Ditto to what Prism said. I found that pins distort the fabric just a hair, and my seams are much more accurate when I use glue.

You might try using your walking foot for piecing if you can not adjust your regular pressure foot to feed evenly.

Perhaps the pressure on your pressure foot is to high...try lowering it a bit to allow those feed dogs to slide that fabric thru as they are designed to do....

are you nesting your seams? Or did you press open if the seams are nesting try to sew with the top seam pointing toward the foot of the machine. WOW is that clear as mud or what.:)

If I have a line more than a couple of inches to sew, I pin the intersection and sew it together first, then go back and sew the entire seam.
I don't start at one end and sew to the other end first, but sew the intersection then the remainder of the seam.
Hope that makes sense. Don't know how else to explain it.

Clover has some great pins out that are long and thin...work great. A shop owner once told me to pin on each side of seams instead of in the middle and it made a huge different on my intersections. Good luck!

I agree with all the suggestions given. I haven't seen an answer for SEWWHAT's question.

Do you press your seams to one side? Do you nest them (one side goes one way and the other side goes the other way)? If both seams are going the same way when placed together to sew, the bulky seam could be making your seams moving when going under the presser foot, no matter how much pressure is applied.

Can you post pictures of how you're lining them up? Maybe we can think of other suggestions.

Nan - Indiana

I use Wonder Clips to hold the seam exactly where I want it. The clip is designed not to have to be taken off to sew, it lays flat on one side. I like glue basting seams too but the clips are best when I have lots of seams to match. I rarely use pins anymore. A machine usually will feed the top layer more then the bottom layer. Hold the top fabric up off the bottom fabric until it reaches the foot. This really helps.

When I first start the seam I put the needle down and place the fabric against the needle then begin sewing. This way the feed dogs doesn't push the top fabric forward.

Use pin through both seams and allow it to stand straight up. Then pin as usual before the seams and after the seams. Before and after will have less bulk. Then while stitching, remove the standing pin as you approach it. There is a fork pin (for lack of the correct term) available to quilters. This pin had two thongs side-by-side that straddle the seam.

I think by turning the pin to secure the pin, the seams are distorted. -- Hope this helps.

A walking foot will make your life much better. The top then will feed at the same rate as the feed dogs on the bottom. Also pin all intersections as that will help. Gluing may work for you too. Try all suggestions and see what works best for you and perhaps you can set your seam ripper aside for a while. Don't get discouraged, we all have to find our way to the best solution for each of us.

I use those Clover superfine pins- they are awesome BUT the fork pins are just amazing for those intersections. I was taught to pin on either side of intersections but the fork pin replaces both pins! The fabric stays right where you want it and it helps keep the fabric underneath from flipping to the opposite direction too!

Not solving original problem, but asking about above comment.........
I thought the opposite..bottom eats more than top...that is why if you have slack in one of the two pieces, but the baggy one on the bottom and it will then be evened out when sewing.......anyway, that's what I do and it works..maybe just my machine.......or me

I found that I was not lining up the pieces I was sewing so the seams did not match. So, I pin the unsewn edge of the pieces together at the seam so the fabric does not shift and the seams match up much better. The sewn seams do not shift when pinned like this.

Where does one buy fork pins? I would love to try them.

hugs,
Charlotte

I went to a workshop where Alex Anderson was the speaker. Her suggestion was to pin the seam together first, then add a pin to each side and remove the pin from the seam. It works for me.

I just finished a top for my DD and have a few seams that are off just a tad. Sure wish this post would have been on here before I started that. This is my second quilt too. I think the glue method will be for my next one.

When I am sewing a row of matching seams, I mesh the joinings and sew maybe five stitches and then go on to the next joint. Open it and check that the joints are correct and then I sew the completed seam. A little extra work but saves me a lot of frustration.

You all have helped me so much, this is another bargello so lots of seams to match!So many great ideas and I will try them all!! Thank You all so much

Your method of glue basting is the way I do most of my seams that need matching. Works like a charm, I started doing this years ago when working on a memory quilt of all sorts of fabrics and the seams just would not stay lined up no matter how well I pinned. I was at a retreat and I got the nickname of "glue lady" as no one had ever seen this done before and I just did it out of frustration. White school glue is now my best quilting buddy.

I was going to suggest the forked pins. When I took my first quilting class, it was what was used and I have to say for first time beginners, they worked great. Of course you can buy them at a lot of places. Be careful you buy the Clover Fork pins.
http://www.amazon.com/Clover-Fork-Pi...over+fork+pins

I saw a NZ tip once to use U pins or fork pins. Put the seam in the middle of the U. I have the pins but haven't tried this yet. I'm also a huge fan of glue :).

Nancys notions has the fork pins. They are slightly bent. I got some U shaped pins at walmart not as fancy but may work as well. I haven't tried them yet.U pins are used for jewelry displays. If they work for you you can get 1000 for about 10 dollars on amazon or ebay.

Great tips, everyone. I have been quilting for a while and still have trouble with seams on occasion.

A glue stick is my new friend. I use it whenever I have problems with matching seams. I can control it better than a bottle of glue.

I believe the fork pins come in different qualities. You need the ones that are slim and sharp -- maybe the Clover?

If using two pins you might want to try putting one in from left to right and the other right to left.

Here is an old trick used in commercial garment sewing where they do not pin or use a walking foot. Lift the leading edge of the seam you are sewing, that is the end that is going under the needle slightly off the bed of the machine. It doesn't have to be much, just a fingers width. It doesn't have to be close to the needle it can be as much as a foot away from the needle. It all depends on how long a seam you are sewing. For instance if I were sewing a long strip to another one, I would pinch the two together, lift it about a foot away from the needle and stitch until it was time to again move my fingers. For a block 9" to 12+" I would grasp the end of the seam area and lift it all until I had reached the end of where the seam goes under the needle. I usually have a finger under the fabric so as to keep the lift consistent. Now you an lift it all higher but for me a finger width is enough. It may seem cumbersome at first but will become second nature after a bit. Works great for strip piecing as well as garment sewing or top assembly. Give it a try and you may find it better than pins and such.

sewnsewnsue..I just got the fork pins in yesterday & used them this afternoon they are AWESOME!

sewnsewnsue..I just got the fork pins in yesterday & used them this afternoon they are AWESOME!

So glad you like them. They really do the job for me! It's so nice that we can all learn from each other!

how much were they? I found some but they were $10.00 for 12

take your tention down alittle and make sure you are not having too many stitches per inch !