I hope you get your Featherweight sewing straight. I do all of my piecing on my featherweight with a 1/4" foot. That little machine has spoiled me. I love piecing using it! I use my Bernina for appliqué, FMQ, etc.; but not for piecing. BellaBoo, thanks for your tip.

What a great tip! I can't wait to try this on all the machines, thank you!

So that's what was wrong with my mother's Featherweight. I hated that machine. It would NOT sew a straight line.
So bad that I refused to sew until the 1st electronic machines came out. Programming stitches in made it interesting.
Even today, you couldn't give me one. I'll take my Brother 1500 S anytime.

I have had better luck with my straight stitching on my FW when I bought a 1/4 foot that fit. The foot that came with the machine was loose. I also put down a stack of strips of blue tape on the 1/4 line when I am teaching (sometimes just for me...), so I have someplace to butt the fabric up to. Makes piecing fun again! I can post a picture of the 1/4 foot if someone wants to see it.

Thank you BellaBoo for this tip!!!

Sewing straight
 

Wow, I have always done this...and I did not take the class :). Especially at the very end of the stitching.

Judy in Phx, AZ

I always use the finger on the side tip too but here is one more. Check to see if the pressure on your presser foot is strong enough. If the foot is set to high it's hard for the fabric to stay in line.

There are some great suggestions. Thanks for posting this.

My 'go-to' person for my FW products, parts and tips is novamontgomery.com
She has a Sew Straight product designed just for FWs. It is absolutely wonderful.

Both my FW's sew straight. You shouldn't have to struggle with your seam. May be a problem with your feed dogs. Why not ask the people in our Vintage Sewing Machine thread? Lots of very knowledgeable guys and gals there.

The problem may not be with your machine. Fabric has a tendency to "drift" when you stitch it and curl in one direction. When you are sewing a strata for fabrics together which you will sub-cut into sections for squares it is always recommended that you sew one seam top to bottom and the next seam from the bottom to the top to keep your strata straight. It is necessary to guide your fabric through the machine to keep it feeding straight- a finger placed along the presser foot is a good way to do it. I like to extend the guide for making an accurate 1/4 inch seam to the back of the machine and guide the fabric all the way along the guide. If you don't keep the fabric straight it will veer off. It can be hard to detect in short distances but is very obvious in longer seams. Many people feel that the stitch on a FW is among the most perfect straight stitch because it only straight stitches. When you add the ability to zig-zag it is no longer possible to be absolutely straight and the tiny bit of zig-zag will pull fabric just a bit.