When I do straight stitching with a non-reverse machine I do the back up and stitch over method.
When I do decorative stitching I tie off the ends.


Joe

I just turn my stitch length to zero, do a few stitches in place, then go back to my normal stitch length. My electronic Bernina has a "tie-off" button and that is all it does, stitch in place 4 times.

Drop those dogs and pull that fabric!

I'm most often chain piecing, or using leaders/enders ... so I don't ever worry about securing those ends!

Chances are if you don't have backspace you won't be able to.

My Singer 320 manual tells you to secure the ends when sewing on buttons by sewing three stitches on zero stitch length. Hmm... Skyangel may have something there. Of course on something like a 66 or 27 it takes a long time to do this and involves a bit of guesswork.

I have an ancient degree (2 years) in classic French couture sewing and we were NEVER allowed to even think about using the back stitch. The l needle was left in the down position with the presser foot raised and the fabric was turned to take a few more stitches. It looks neater and there's no chance of the fabric bunching up. I have guilt feelings to this day about sewing in reverse on ANY machine.

If the stitch length is easy to set, just start with a very short stitch for a couple of stitches. This works well for me.

That's how i do it, too.

I do that all the time and have taught my classes the same, saves soooo much time n hassle :)

I think what you are describing is to put the needle down into the fabric, turn it around, take a few stitches, turn it around again with the needle down and go forward from there. Is that correct? How does that differ from using reverse? I know what you mean about feeling guilty. There are certain short cuts i cannot take because of my high school sewing teacher that taught me the "right way" to do things.