The illusive quarter inch seam. I have used several methods over the years before the quarter inch foot became readily available. Everything from special rulers that stick to the bed of your machine, (didn't work because all my machines had a slight curve, the ruler would not stick) I have used mole cloth, the Dr. Scholls stuff? set up as a fence to guide the fabric, (the edges were sticky and the fabric would catch as it moved through) and even a supposed quarter inch foot that was bigger than specified and made my seams too large and therefore my patterns would not fit together properly.
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| Babylock 1/4 inch foot #1, bought with my Unity machine. Note the finger on the right side. It accurately marks the distance from the needle position to the edge. |
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| Babylock 1/4 inch foot #2. The Big Mama. My new favorite. The right sided finger is accurate and has a larger presence on the edge of the fabric but the big bonus here is the larger foot print. It is larger, it stabilizes a larger section of fabric during the sewing process. I find this particularly helpful when stitching smaller pieces. In addition, the little black button on the left, in the back, is a release type of button that when pressed helps the foot over thick seams and multiple fabric layers. |
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- How do you maintain your quarter inch seam?
- Does your machine offer a special foot? If not, have you checked the generic sections in catalogs that supply such feet? (Nancy's Notions etc.)
- Have you ever tried a rubber band stretched around the seam bed? I did that on an older machine that didn't have a special foot and it actually worked pretty well. I did need to check it periodically because the band, though wide, will move over time.
- Any more ideas????
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