Why we just love sewing machine presser feet
They make sewing MUCH easier – and even more fun! We’ve waxed lyrical about sewing machine presser feet on a number of occasions – and
Avoiding the pitfalls and concentrating on the enjoyment of sewing…
We love the internet! There are so many useful hints, tips and cautionary tales for all of us who love sewing.
We thought we’d round up just a few of our favourites as an indication of the wonderful array of help and guidance that anyone with a computer, smartphone or tablet can access.
So here, in no particular order are five of our current favourites.
1) The lurking safety pins!
Before you start work – watch out for those safety pins warns the Dummies website.
“If you have pin basted your quilt together, you must remove the safety pins as you approach them. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to stitch over a safety pin. Not only does stitching over them make them difficult to remove, but it’s dangerous! You could easily break your needle, sending a fragment of the needle into your eye.”
2) The quilt sandwich
No – it’s not an excuse for an early lunch, but some invaluable advice from the wonderful Linda Matthews Creative Cloth website which shows how proper preparation can really brings huge benefits and time saving – and help ensure that your quilting nears perfection.
“Before you begin machine quilting, you should ensure that your quilt is properly sandwiched and basted. Time taken for preparation beforehand will prevent problems occurring during the machine quilting process.”
3) Hide your mistakes!
One of our go-to websites is of course Craftsy. They have an excellent article 10 Beginner Tips for Successful Free-Motion Quilting – some of which show you how to ensure that you have a marvellous end result – even if you might be lacking a little confidence.
“By using multicolored “busy” fabric prints, all you will see is the texture of your quilting rather than any less-than-perfect stitches. Choose a thin (50 weight or less) cotton or polyester thread for machine quilting in a color that blends in with your quilt top.”
4) Picking the right quilt colours
Deciding on a really effective colour scheme for a quilt can sometimes prove to be really challenging. Paying close attention to the fabric is a great way to start, according to Nicole on the Mama Loves Quilts website.
“Fabric designers have already done the hard work of selecting colors that go together beautifully. Letting the fabric be your guide in color selection makes it easy to choose a color scheme for a quilt.”
5) Why should you make your own quilts?
Jessica Skultety starts an excellent tutorial on making large quilts on your home machine with six reasons why you should make your own on her excellent Quilty Habits blog.
“You will finish a quilt from the very beginning to the bitter end. That is a huge accomplishment!”
Get in touch with your hints and tips!
Let us spread the joy with our fellow sewists by emailing us details of your favourite tips. We will of course include information about you and a link to your website – and add it to our Twitter and Facebook pages as a thank you!
The Jaguar range of sewing machines and overlockers
Of course we’d love you to indulge your passion for sewing on one of our wonderful sewing machines. If you’re ready for a new machine, bear in mind that all Jaguar machines feature the Digital Quick-threading System (DQS).
Just guide the thread directly from the spool to the needle area through a single groove and thread the needle by simply pressing the threading lever!
