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trouble with piecing/keeping end of seam straight

trouble with piecing/keeping end of seam straight

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Old 07-27-2014, 04:21 AM
  #21  
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Put on your walking foot, then the layers will be pulled through evenly and that should fix the problem.
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Old 07-27-2014, 04:30 AM
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I use a "Purple Thang" which has an angled, slightly flattened tip and has an eye for threading on a "ribbon"* to be worn around your neck to be handy. (*I suggest using narrow elastic so it doesn't drop through a mesh tabletop you've leaned over, causing pain and embarrassment when it catches as you stand up without noticing. Ask me how I know.) The Purple Thang is a great, inexpensive little sewing tool, available on Amazon and many sewing/quilting sites.
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Old 07-27-2014, 06:31 AM
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I use a Stilleto to guide the end of my blocks...Try that..
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Old 07-27-2014, 07:37 AM
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Do you have a plastic support table fitted around your machine base? If you don't then your guiding hand and gravity is the problem....I took a serger class one time from the Serger Guru from Babylock. She said, serged threads going off the fabric was the person pulling at the end of the piece going through the machine, usually the left hand. We all tried it on our machines, she was right! Keep your fabric in position to the last stitch, don't get in a hurry to get it through the needle.
When I got home, I noticed I was pulling my fabric to the left on my sewing machine as well...It is not your machine.
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Old 07-27-2014, 07:49 AM
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Chopsticks work well as stilletos--not as pokey as skewers! (Pokey is, of course, a technical term!)
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Old 07-27-2014, 07:55 AM
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two things, do u have a 1/4th foot on your machine? And when pinning i always start in the middle and then work out, and then work in, i go back and forths to make sure i have it equal. sometimes it just takes practice, u will get there
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Old 07-27-2014, 08:16 AM
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Stiletto works for me too
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Old 07-27-2014, 08:59 AM
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I have found it really helps if I slow down my sewing speed as I near the end of the piece.
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Old 07-27-2014, 01:35 PM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by dakotamaid View Post
Two things off the top of my head would be to use a sharp pointed something to guide the seam thru to the end. The other would be to use a small piece of scrap to sew onto at the end of the seam, also at the beginning of the seam. These little scraps are called leaders and enders.
I was going to suggest the same thing. It improved my piecing when I started using leaders and enders.
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Old 07-27-2014, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by dgreen View Post
Thanks so much everyone! I'm not exactly sure how to use the stiletto, but I'm sure I will figure it out.
a wooden orange manicure stick works well too and is safer if you think you might hit the needle
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