larger ones now, I measure out the material and pin it together but towards the end of sewing it I have fabric build up. Why is this happening? Please help me with tips, I am wasting so much fabric.
Thank you
2007-10-07 03:14:28 · 3 answers · asked by disneyp 2 in Games & Recreation ➔ Hobbies & Crafts
Your sewing machine will push the top piece farther than the bottom, so that's why it's building up. To counter it, use a walking foot and work from the center out. It will still push a little, so have extra fabric for the bottom. Good luck!
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2007-10-07 04:06:40 · answer #1 · answered by Kacky 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Do not pull the fabrics as you feed them through the machine.
When sewing heavier pieces, be careful to keep the fabric you have not sewn yet from dragging up the side of the machine. (It feels like you have to lift and pull the material to get it to the needle.) Do you have a small table ot stool that you could put the material on that will raise it closer to the machine, rather than material just hanging down? That will cut down on drag/pull .
Pin it well before sewing. Some people might quickly hand baste the blanket together to keep it from stretching.
Make sure your fabrics are compatible. I would not use a stretchy material and a cotton. Have you cut it on the straight of grain? If you use the material on the bias, it will stretch. Do not assume just because you are matching the fabrics by the selvage ends, that your fabrics are on straight of grain. Check them first.
Check you tensions. You may have to loosen the tension on top if your machine.
Always sew the seams in the same direction. Assuming you start sewing seam 1 down the left side of blanket from head to feet. Make sure the opposite side seam, you sew exactly the same way. From head up to where feet are,which means you will have to turn blanket over to do the opposite seam.
Hopefully this way, if you have any extra fabric when you are done with the seams, it is on the bottom (foot end) of the blanket on both sides.
Anymore questions, please check out our little sewing group on Yahoo groups. Newtosewing.
2007-10-07 07:32:25 · answer #2 · answered by anne s 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
What happens is the feed dogs push the fabric on the bottom through a bit faster than the fabric on the top moves. So you get
to the end of a seam and you've got leftover top fabric.
Some things to try:
1) Make sure the fabric is well supported on its path through
the machine. Especially, you don't want fabric pulling through
on its own because of the weight. You may want to load the
fabric in loose folds over your left shoulder, and put another small table behind the machine to catch it as it comes through from sewing.
2) Loosen the presser foot pressure. Typically, if your machine has it, it's a knob on top of the machine, directly above the
needle. It'll turn, or be spring-loaded. Newer machines may have a presser foot pressure dial in another position. Less expensive machines may lack this feature.
3) Try a walking foot. Not cheap, but can be useful. The idea is
that the top and bottom fabric moves at the same pace.
4) Learn to sew like the pros do, using hand position to control
the feeding of the fabric. The best "how to" on this I know of
is Margaret Islander's series of VHS and DVDs. They're expensive, so interlibrary loan them if you have to (they're
excellent teaching tapes) https://islandersewing.hostasaurus.com/Islander2005/product.php?dept_id=V "Industrial shortcuts" is the one I'd
suggest, but she also goes through fabric handling in the Shirts
video. What you're doing is controlling the feeding of the fabric
through the machine by the position of your hands. When you
start feeling the bottom layer creeping from the feed dog issue,
you simply raise the fabric up from in front of the needleplate
area and let it straighten itself out. These are the methods I wished I'd learned when I first started sewing, as they are SO much easier and save so much time. Ergonomically, it's better also.
Alternatively, Jeffrey Diduch wrote an article for Threads magazine a few years ago, demonstrating these techniques... it's a little harder to pick up from still photos, I think, but still
worth a try. It's "Sewing without pins", Threads, issue 87.
Feb/March 2000.
2007-10-07 09:05:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋