Sewing sideways
 

When I was at Sew Expo last year I looked at a number of brands of sewing machines. One of them sewed both back to front and side to side. I can't seem to Goggle the right question to find it and can't remember which brand it was. Can anyone help me?

I have a Bernina Artista 180 - it has directional sewing, which sews to the side. Look for Directional Sewing

I think the Sapphire Husqvarna 930 and 960 also do this.

I've seen people sew sideways with their regular machines. Of course their sitting at a different angle

I have BERNINA machines and they sew sidewise. Somehow, I think you are asking a double question. To sew sidewise, just lower the feed dogs and stitch away-just like you do to free motion quilt because that is what you are doing. Some quilting frames, such as the John Flynn model, are intended to use in the perpendicular position-but you are FMQing with the feed dogs down.

Now, if you question is, can I sit and sew with the faceplate of the machine facing me as I sew from side to side, you need a different machine structure-one that I am not familiar with. Are you asking if there is a machine available that sews from this perpendicular position with feed dogs up and measured stitching?

I will look forward to other comments because this is an interesting question.

I have seen here on the board where some quilters turn their machines end-toward you for fmq. Sorry, can't find a post.

I have a Viking with 8 way stitching.

my brother 2800D has direction sewing i love that feature so easy to sew patches i made some money using that feature just sewing patches for karate uniforms so easy straight and a zigzag

Husqvarna Ruby has the capacity to sew designs sideways

I have directional sewing on my Brother machine also though I have rarely used it.

My Baby Lock has that feature and I have never used it.

My HQ Sweet Sixteen quilting machine which is turned needle in front to face me(with no feeddogs) has the possibility but honestly I find it very hard to think and to make the movement sideways. I am so very used to forward/backward (up/down), that I think it would be hard to retrain my brain. I do it sometimes if it is a very short seam, but otherwise I can't get it straight.

But I haven't seen in on an actual machine with feed dogs... Do you have to replace them depending on which way you want to move? Or at least manipulate them from one position to the other?

Thanks for the ideas. I think it was a Viking machine. The question was prompted when I was stitching around applique stars on a quilt on my sewing machine. I did part of the quilting on my LA and did the in the ditch work on the sewing machine. I got really tired of turning the quilt around and remembered that machine. I wondered if you could keep the quilt stable and just change the sewing direction. Hope that makes sense. I wasn't free motion quilting because I make a mess of in the ditch in free motion.

My Brother NXQ60 Innova sews sideways. It make more sound when it does, but it does a beautiful job of it. I can program it to sew big loops while I manipulate the fabric when I quilt. So far I have used it to QAG because my neck and shoulders object to quilting large items, and create muscle spasms when I try. It has 150 different stitches that I can program to work in concert to create the quilting design. Love it.

My Viking has directional stitching.

This is a great feature. I have a Bernina 880 and it has directional stitching by 1 degree increments.

Several Brother models have directional sewing

My Babylock Aria has that feature. It can sew sideways as well as diagonally. I use it for sewing in tight spaces.

Some Bernina and some Pfaff machines can sew sideways, with the operator facing the machine and with the feed dogs up, but it is only the TOLs that can do this. Apparently some other brands can also....I am not familiar with these.

My Babylock Journey has directional sewing. Great for hard to reach areas when mending or altering.

I have a Brothers Inovis and it has the sideways sewing feature. Love my Brother!

I have done this on many occasions.

Can't you simply lower the feed dogs and move the quilt in the direction you want to sew? Isn't that basically what FMQ is?

The Husqvarna Viking machines can sew in four directions (stitch a box or rectangle) and can sew in eight directions. The eight direction stitch is great to sew a square or rectangle when attaching a fabric handle to a bag. You can stitch an "X" inside the square or rectangle to reinforce the fabric handle.

My Babylock has directional sewing.

Yes you can, but I was trying to carefully sew in the ditch, hich is what prompted my question. My FMQ in the ditch is not the greatest! LOL

I thought I'd read something about Directional or Sideways sewing that indicated it is a feature on some machines that allows them to make decorative stitch patterns (not embroidery) that are larger than would normally be possible for that machine, so a machine that makes 7mm decorative stitch patterns could make much larger ones if it can sew sideways.

Rob

Yes Rob, that is true of my Bernina 1630 and Pfaff 1475 and others of that era. They can make designs approx. 1 1/2" X 2 1/2", or a little more. These seem to be the precursor of the first home embroidery machines, the Bernina 180, and the Pfaff 7570.

My Babylock DestinyII has directional sewing. There are several Babylock models that have this feature. It was wonderful for sewing badges and patches on my grandson's Boy Scout shirt. It really saved time because I didn't have to reposition the shirt constantly.

Wow, thanks for posting this question. I have never, ever heard of machines that allow for directional sewing. What an awesome feature that would be on a machine.

I have a Brother sew/embroidery machine that sews sideways and diagonally, as well as front and back.

Baby Lock also has directional sewing

My Vikings do, even the one that is really old. My Brother NQ3500D does, its a middle of the line emb/combo. It even has a foot that you can attach and have it trim seams as you sew like a serger. I'd never get rid of my serger but its great that these machine companys are thinking ahead

The Elisimo made by Babylock does this. I love to use it for patching and sewing on name tags. I have also used it for attaching logos on a letterman's jacket.