Drivers Ed For Sewing Machines

Drivers Ed for
Sewing Machines
How you maneuver
curves and turn
corners influences
your finished garment
by Judith Neukam
heres nothing wrong with being

a Sunday-morning-to-brunch
kind of driver when youre behind the wheel of an automobilebut a technique tune-up can
work wonders for sewing when
youre driving fabric over feed dogs. Many
sewing problems can be resolved by taking
a few driving lessons. These lessons wont
just make sewing easiertheyll improve
your results.
Im going to tell you how to drive straight,
navigate turns, take corners, jump bumps,
and sew seams and edges that will look the
way they were intended to. Your success
depends on how you use your hands to control the fabric as you sew.
Naturally, you need to develop a feel for
your sewing equipment. When youve sewn
on a machine for a time, you acquire an
intimacy with the way it accelerates and
how it soundsyou become familiar with
its vibration, pings, and knocks, and you
34
THREADS
Straight sewing
requires guides,
pivots, and loops
The long seams found on pants legs, and the vertical seams on
skirts and dresses should be straight and pucker-free, with seam
allowances having a consistent width. Subtle changes in the width
of multiple seam allowances around a garment can significantly
change the garments size.
To help you stay on the road for even and accurate seam allowances,
most machines have parallel seam guides embossed on the throat
plate (photo above). Simply pivot the fabric left to right or right to
left with your hand (photos at right and top right) to keep the fabric
edge aligned with the seam guide while the machine stitches.
When youre sewing through two or more layers of fabric, the
bottom layer moves slightly faster than the top one, resulting in a
misaligned seam. This is because the feed dogs grip and pull the
lower fabric under the presser foot, but the presser foot creates
a slight resistance on the top fabric. To keep both layers moving
through the sewing machine at the same pace, drape a loop of
Photos: Sloan Howard
fabric over your hand as shown at bottom right.
can hear the difference when its not running smoothly. Smooth sewing depends
on starting with a machine outfitted with
the correct needle and thread for the fabric
youre using.
Follow my recommendations for driving
your sewing machine and youll achieve
extra-fine results in your sewing.
Judith Neukam is an associate editor for Threads.
(continued on the following page)
august/september 2005
35
Take it easy on curves

with wrinkle-free
maneuvers
Improperly sewn curves can cause necklines that flare away
from the body, and armholes that gape, are too tight, or have
rough-looking, puckered, or angular edges.
The technique for driving around both inside and outside curves
is to sew them as if the fabric is a stiff, inflexible paper. You cant
stretch or bend it as you sew, requiring you to use your whole hand
to control the direction of the fabric. One hand controls the fabric to
maintain an accurate seam allowance, while the other hand gently
directs the fabric through the arc of the curve. The upper left photo
shows how you drive the fabric through a concave curve in the
direction of the arrows. In the middle photo, the right hand fingers
steer the fabric around the curve and to the right from behind the
needle. The bottom left photo shows how to use your hands to
drive the fabric through a convex curve. In all cases, when youre
driving curves, use your hands and fingers to direct and follow the
original shape.
Problems occur if you distort the fabric as it goes through the
needle in a way that changes the original shape of the curve. The
tendency to straighten a concave curve as it is being stitched
causes the curve to shorten, which can make a neckline or armhole
too tight. In the bottom right photo, Ive placed a curve that was
straightened during sewing under a curve that was sewn properly,
notice how the same curve shortened as a result.
Dont distort
fabric to sew
CAUTION
36
THREADS
a curve.
For sharp
cornersdrive
to a point
and pivot
Inset corner
There are all sorts of corners: 90 degrees,

45 degrees or less, inside, outside, and
insetyou see them on front openings, lapels,
and pockets of blouses, jackets, and coats.
Sewing a corner is often a matter of sewing
along a line to a marked point, positioning
the needle down into the fabric, lifting
the presser foot, pivoting the fabric to the
desired angle, lowering the presser foot, and
recommencing to sew. This method works
best for inside corners or inset corners like
Inside corner
the ones shown at right.
Clip the corner.
For a well-sewn outside corner, such as a

collar point, add an extra step. Stop sewing
the seamline a stitch or two before you reach
the end point. With the needle down, pivot
across the point as shown at right, take two
or three stitches, and pivot again to follow
the opposite seam.
Compare the points shown in the photos
below when the fabric is turned right-side
Turn before
the point.
out. The squared off corner on the left has

a much sharper finished point than the
example on the right, which was sewn by
pivoting at the point.
All corners benefit from a shorter stitch
length (14 inch before and after the point).
These smaller stitches support the fabric
when the corner is trimmed or clipped.
A squared-off
A pointed
corner results
corner results
in a sharp point.
in a blunt point.
(continued on the following page)
37
Two ways to jump bumps

When seams intersect with a waistband or hem, or you otherwise come to a point with a manylayered bump to sew over, its easy to get high-centered. When this happens, your machine usually
jams at the top of the bump because the presser foot isnt level with the feed dogs (see photo at
near right). Most often, this results in a snarled mess of
threads to cut out of your machine and your garment.
By always keeping the sole of your presser foot parallel
with the feed dogs, you can drive right over these bumps
without skipping a stitch. To keep your presser foot
level, use a shim designed for this purpose, such as a
Jean-a-ma-jig or Seam Buster (below the middle photo).
However, you can just as easily use a folded scrap of
fabric to raise the low end of the foot, as shown in the
top and far right photos on the facing page. Slide the
folded scrap under the heel of the presser foot and
stitch until the toe of the foot dropsthen position the
scrap under the toe and drag it along as you continue
sewing until the heel drops.
Taut sewing pulls in two directions

Taut sewing involves pulling the fabric forward and
not so much that you lose a neutral tensionmeaning a
backward simultaneously as you sew. This practice
balance of pressure in both directions. By maintaining an
intentionally removes the slack from the fabric to produce
equal amount of pressure on the fabric as it passes under
an ultra-smooth seam or uniform topstitching on woven
the needle, the feed dogs control the movement of the
fabrics, or to create a lettuce finish on knit or bias edges.
fabric as they should. If you are in the habit of taut sewing
However, if you pull the fabric too hard, you will
all the time, break it, or youll continue to break needles.
overpower the feed dogs,

which often causes the
needle to break because the
pressure on the fabric bends
the needle, which then hits
the throat plate and snaps.
The goal is to pull the fabric
in opposite directions
enough to tighten it but
38
THREADS
You can
purchase shims
where notions
are sold.
A presser-foot lift
simplifies the journey
Machines come with wonderful features to make driving
easier. One is the foot control that takes a half stitch when
you heel-tap the control, enabling you to either raise or lower
your needle position. Some machines offer a needle up/down
If your machine doesnt already have this feature,
button that performs the same function but requires a finger
you can add an after-market foot-operated
to operate.
presser foot lifter to your current machine. For more
A hands-free method of lifting the presser foot is another
information about a Universal Presser Foot Lifter visit
such feature. On some machines, the presser foot lifts
PresserFootLifter.com or write J.I.M. Enterprises,
automatically when you stop sewingjust enough to pivot
1048-A Brown Ave., Lafayette, CA 94549.
your fabricbut not so much that you lose control of it. Other
With these two features, you can
machines offer a knee-operated presser foot lifter (above
maneuver corners, curves, and
photo at right), which enables you to lift and lower
tight spots without ever taking
the foot without using your hands.
your hands off your fabric to

hand-crank a stitch or needle
position. They allow you
to just leave the driving to
invisible hands.
39

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Drivers Ed for

heres nothing wrong with being

Photos: Sloan Howard

fabric over your hand as shown at bottom right.

(continued on the following page)

Take it easy on curves

There are all sorts of corners: 90 degrees,

the ones shown at right.

Clip the corner.

For a well-sewn outside corner, such as a

out. The squared off corner on the left has

(continued on the following page)

Two ways to jump bumps

Taut sewing pulls in two directions

not so much that you lose a neutral tensionmeaning a

backward simultaneously as you sew. This practice

balance of pressure in both directions. By maintaining an

intentionally removes the slack from the fabric to produce

equal amount of pressure on the fabric as it passes under

an ultra-smooth seam or uniform topstitching on woven

the needle, the feed dogs control the movement of the

fabrics, or to create a lettuce finish on knit or bias edges.

fabric as they should. If you are in the habit of taut sewing

However, if you pull the fabric too hard, you will

all the time, break it, or youll continue to break needles.

overpower the feed dogs,

If your machine doesnt already have this feature,

button that performs the same function but requires a finger

you can add an after-market foot-operated

presser foot lifter to your current machine. For more

A hands-free method of lifting the presser foot is another

information about a Universal Presser Foot Lifter visit

such feature. On some machines, the presser foot lifts

PresserFootLifter.com or write J.I.M. Enterprises,

automatically when you stop sewingjust enough to pivot

1048-A Brown Ave., Lafayette, CA 94549.

With these two features, you can

machines offer a knee-operated presser foot lifter (above

maneuver corners, curves, and

photo at right), which enables you to lift and lower

tight spots without ever taking

the foot without using your hands.

your hands off your fabric to

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