Superstar Sewing - Part One: Straight Stitches and Stitch Posistions

In the 1500 series of It's Sew Easy TV I had the opportunity to showcase basic stitches that perform as superstars. Basic yes, but they deserve superstar status for the way they can make your projects look more professional. Watch the full video here to see learn more.

This new series of blog posts is designed to complement the video with additional information. This is the first in a series that celebrates basic utility stitches, beginning with the straight stitch and exploring ways to sew accurate seams.

Brother Expert Consultant

Nothing in your sewing repertoire is more basic than a straight stitch!   Today we'll talk about seams and seam allowances.

The little "old fashioned" seam guide you see above has been around for eons. It's still one of my go to tools for sewing accurate seams. The one you see here is the Brother version but it's likely you'll find a similar one for most any brand of machine. What makes it so useful? Well, if you are anything like me, you've struggled to follow the engraved markings on the throat plate. Even when sewing a standard 5/8-inch seam it can be difficult to stay on the straight and narrow when following the groovy guides on the plate.  Sure, there are some new-fangled, laser guided ways to achieve accuracy for sewing seams, and I promise to cover some of those in the next post, but this guide is a generic quick fix that works great and is a one size fits all solution.
 
Simply screw it into the plate, set it for the distance of your seam, and then guide the fabric along the easy to follow raised edge as you sew from beginning to end. The fact that it attaches to the machine in front of a multitude of accessory feet provides visibility along with accuracy.

With or without the guide, coordinating the position of the needle in combination with the standard "J" foot is another way to sew accurate seams with the standard straight and zig zag foot. Again, you'll need to check your own machine, but many feet are identical to the "J" foot shown here.

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A setting of 0.00 puts the needle at the far left.

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This left needle setting  is the default position for most modern computerized machines. 

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A setting of 3.50 puts the needle in the center.

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A setting of 7.00 puts the needle in the far right.

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Changing the position of the needle for a straight stitch is a super easy way to sew an accurate seam. Simply adjust the needle using the width key and follow the edge of the foot as a guide. You can do this with any of the straight stitches shown boxed in red. Check your machine for your own personal options but in most cases this will include anything that sews straight, including a specialized basting stitch.

Here you see the setting for sewing a 1/2-inch seam by guiding the fabric along the edge of the foot.

And here is the setting for sewing a 1/4-inch seam by guiding the fabric along the edge of the foot.

I hope this has helped you find better ways to sew seams and use the ordinary but necessary straight stitch! Next time we'll explore a bit more, discover some high-tech ways to achieve perfect stitches, and delve into more utility stitches that make your sewing projects shine. Often taken for granted, mastering the basics and making full use of features built-in to modern machines can make basic tasks easier and more accurate. Stay tuned for more tips, tricks, and techniques to help you make the most of your machine!

Feel free to leave comments and tell me if this post has answered some questions for you, or perhaps sparked new ones!