When you sew a 1/4th seam….
 

Do you…

1. Use a 1/4th sewing foot as your guide
2. Always use a scant 1/4th inch
3. Only use a scant 1/4th if the block tells you to
4. Use the duck duck go 1/4 seam tape to guide your fabric
5. Use a magnetic seam guide
6. Sew your block with a “normal” 1/4th seam and only use a scant 1/4th seam if the block comes out wrong
7. Adjust your needle on your machine to make the 1/4th seam
8. Use a different method you’d like to share
9. Wonder why all patterns can’t just use a regular 1/4th seam…

Hi LC and hope you enjoyed your birthday! The patterns do use 1/4" seams, but the size of the thread you are sewing with can make your seams come out bigger. And when you press the seam over, there is about one thread's width lost there. So sewing "scant" seams can make up for those differences.

I do use a magnetic seam guide to help me feed the fabric better. I can change where it goes, if I need the seam to be larger or smaller.

Always measure your sewn seam to check for accurate seam allowance. Don't just assume the markings on feet or machine beds will be accurate.

It depends on what I am sewing. I never do a scant 1/4" as I found that with the thread I use and the presser feet I use, I don't have any need to.

For a regular 1/4" seam in sewing pieces/blocks together I use a 1/4" presser foot as my guide.

For sewing diagonally on small pieces for HST or the like or sewing strips/sashing/binding together for length, I use the tape I keep on my machine that has measurements and lines on it for sewing a straight line, so I don't have to draw a line on the fabric for a diagonal seam.

For sewing down edgings, like for sewing down the final side of top sashing when doing QAYG sashing, I use a narrow presser foot, as it gives me a 1/8" seam line. And I also use this 1/8" presser foot for sewing down applique edging.

For sewing down the first side of the binding, I use a 3/8" presser foot as I like a wider binding and then when I flip the binding over, I switch to the narrow presser foot as it gives me a 1/8" seam line on the edge.

The presser feet that I use, are accurate for the measurements that I want, with the thread I use. It took me a bit of searching to find the ones that had accurate measurements that fit my machine, especially the 3/8" one, but now I'm good.

My presser feet are accurate on both sides of the presser feet prongs or tongues, so I can feed my fabric through on different sides of my machine 'throat' if I need to. Except for the 3/8" one and I was able to find both a left and a right 3/8" presser foot so I just switch them out of I need to feed my fabric though on the other side of the throat area.

I used 5 or so layers of painter's tape for my fab to bump up against. Attached to the bobbin casing plate. Piece is about 1/2 x 1in. Never have a prob now with that pecky quarter inch seam. Always use the same thread when sewing.

My machine has a 1/4 inch setting and I can adjust as needed if I require a scant 1/4 inch, I do not use a 1/4 inch foot, the edge of the presser foot is my guide. I use Aurifil 50 weight thread for piecing and prefer it to other threads I have tried.

I love this option!

Depends on the project . . .

I do all of the above, depending. Anyway, I have finally figured out how to get a decent 1/4 inch seam on my Bernina 590. I don't use the fancy 1/4 inch feet (Bernina has more then 1) but I just use the old basic foot that came on the machine and move my needle over 3-4 places and use the edge of the pressure foot for my guide. However, the quickest and simplest thing to use for my quarter inch seam is to switch to my Bernina 475 or the 215. Yep, those narrower 5.5 mm machines are the cat's meow. Almost as good as a Singer Featherweight! Except they come with some bells and whistles I love. Anyway, when the insert for the 475 comes, that machine will go into my sewing cabinet to be my main machine for the quilting stuff and the 590 will come out so I can play with other things like fancy stitches and embroidery.

that is tooooo funny!