Need Help with Sewing Strips Together
 

I'm sewing strips together and I'm having a heck of a time. I start with edges together and by the time I get to the end one strip is at least 1/8" longer than the other. They're only 8" long. I'm pinning, in various ways, and nothing seems to work. Could it be my tension? I've been adjusting the bobbin tension and it doesn't seem to help. This is NO FUN! I keep telling DH that I know why I quit sewing years ago. My machine works and it gives me a straight line, but I feel like sewing could be so much more enjoyable if I had a new, quiet machine that didn't clunk along. UGH!<script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/f81c71f0/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>

If you have a walking foot it will help. Also turn your strips when you add the 3rd strip or you will have bowed strips.

Maybe I need to be more clear - I'm sewing a 2.5"x8" strip to a 6"x8" rectangle to get an 8" square. I feel like my strip is bowed. When I'm sewing I have the strip on top, should I maybe have the rectangle on top? The strip seems to be distorting. It seems like it should be easy to sew strips together. So frustrating!<script type="text/javascript" src="safari-extension://com.ebay.safari.myebaymanager-QYHMMGCMJR/f81c71f0/background/helpers/prefilterHelper.js"></script>

There may be a problem with your DSM. If you can, try your walking foot. If both fabrics are cut to length together, they should end up at the same length when stitched. I do the same as Tartan does. I cut an extra 1/4" so I can then trim down to size after pressing and starching. You just have to find what works best for you. Have you had your machine serviced recently?? DSM are just like cars. Most need an annual checkup and cleaning (places that we have no access to). Good Luck.

check your pressfoot tension. It sound like the pressfoot is putting too much tension on the top fabric and therefore causing one strip to be longer. I ususally do not use a walking foot on just 2 pieces of fabric. Sound like you need a new machine!!!!!

Are you perhaps sewing a WOF (stretchy) strip to the LOF (non-stretchy) edge of a rectangle? Picky as it sounds, that can make a significant difference. In any case, try loosening the pressure on your presser foot a bit and see if that helps.

I sometimes get these discrepancies, too, and I have a very old machine. Is it better one way than the other (strip on bottom, strip on top)? When the strip ends up too long, is it because it has slipped on the starting end? Or does it actually appear to be stretching in length? How are you pinning? I usually put a pin perpendicular to the edge near the end point of the seam, and parallel to the edge along the length of the seam.

I know it's a short distance, but one thing to try - hold the two pieces together near the end, then turn up your fingers about 90 degrees and hold on while you sew. This lets the two pieces "ease" that little bit of difference in the pressure between foot and feed dogs. Might not work on such a short piece, but worth a shot.

I have had that problem before, so I just started pinning my pieces so that they would meet in the end. In other words, if the top is getting pushed past the bottom, then pin the top piece a bit above the bottom piece before starting to sew. Also, try pinning the ends first, then the middle, if there is "bagginess" in one side more than the other put that side down, and they should ease together.


Hope that all makes sense, and you are able to correct your problem. Those sort of frustrations take the fun out of a fun hobby!

Jenna