Thursday, November 19, 2015

Featherweight Skill Series - Edge Stitcher

Thank you for coming to my Featherweight Skill Series! There are thousands of us who love our little 221s but need or want a little more "know-how" on using them to their fullest potential. I hope my posts and videos will help you get more know-how and confidence in using your beautiful Featherweight. Enjoy the classes!

Class #11 - Edge-Stitcher 


Class supply list:
Your fully threaded sewing machine with the edge-stitcher, several practice pieces of fabric: 4" x WOF (width of fabric), flat lace, wide ribbon, etc.

Let's get sewing!

Let's talk about the slots in the foot. There are two openings on each side and one that is enclosed in the center. These slots will keep your edges lined up for accurate stitching.

In your manual, you'll see that each opening is numbered, starting on the left side nearest to the needle hole.

The tab marked "A" is for sliding the plate to the left or the right of the stitch opening. This can help line the stitched seams better in your joinings. If this doesn't slide easily, put a drop of oil under the blue steel and wipe off any excess.

In this sample, I added flat lace between two fabrics, creating a pretty entredeux panel.
The amazing look of this technique is the closely stitched joined edges, allowing the lace inserts to be fully seen through.

On the right side of the center panel, the light blue fabric went in slot one and the lace edge went on top of it in slot four.


On the left side of the center panel, the light blue fabric went in slot four and the lace went on top of it in slot one.
The same slot setups were used on the dark blue edges so it came out with the lace on top.

Here I added a ruffled lace trim onto the edge of a strip of fabric. The overlap doesn't need to be as narrow as in entredeux. So I put the fabric in slot two and the lace on top of it in slot five. 
This setup gave it a sturdier seam allowance.

I added a very narrow ribbon on a strip of fabric. The fabric went under the foot and the ribbon was fed through slot three.

If I could give advice, it would be to sew slowly when you are using the edge stitcher. Keep the edges of what you are sewing lined up all the way into the slots you are using. Look at the needle hole to see the stitches sewing both pieces the entire time. Smile and enjoy your creation!

Homework: Take your fabric strips and join them to strips of lace and ribbon, or whatever you think would look great!

I hope you have been encouraged to use your amazing sewing machine accessories.  Please share your pics on our Facebook group page, Featherweight Skill Series, so we can see your creations! 

If you like the series, share the link with your friends, pin it to Pinterest, join my Facebook group... Most importantly, "Let's get sewing!"

See you next time!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Really clear instructions. I needed this! Very pretty panel. I hope to make some pretty little dresses for my Granddaughter. Thank you.