What do I need to use to keep my sewing project from shifting? I am making a baby blanket and it is crooked.?
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at
10:50 am
My blanket keeps shifting as I sew the 2 sides together. Do I need to fuse it together first, rather than just pinning it? Thanks, I am new to sewing.
If yes, then what do I buy to help with the problem.
Filed under: Baby Clothes
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Two suggestions, one harder, one easier.
The harder one is to mark the edges of both pieces of fabrics with small clips every 6-10", and sew without pins, using the ready to wear sewing methods Margaret Islander demonstrates in her Industrial Shortcuts video or DVD. It’s really something you need to learn to do in person or from a video, but it works. How you hold your hands controls how the fabric flows, allowing you to sew curves, straight lines and even do some easing, all without pins or extra prepartion. Smartflix rents the dvd and you may be able to get it from interlibrary loan. Section on pinless sewing starts about 12 minutes in.
The easier one is water soluble basting tape… Collins Wash A Way Wonder Tape. About $3.50 for a 10 yard roll of 1/4" wide double stick tape that does not gum up the needle when you sew through it and disappears completely in the wash. Baste the fabrics together
with the tape on the seamline, and sew.
But I recommend the Islander video as a longer term solution to the problem of pins…
Hello,
What fabric are you using on the blanket – which foot are you using to sew with and what machine are you sewing this together with.
It may be a simple item such as lower the foot presser on the machine or using a different presser foot to sew the layers together.
Fusing it may cause more problems as there is a reason that the fabric is shifting as you sew.
Please email back and I can better advise you on this.
Sincerely,
Bernie
Bertina Studio
http://www.bertinastudio.com
Loosening the presser foot pressure will also help eliminate the shifting. This feature is usually directly above the presser foot on the top of the machine. Depending on the brand and model of the machine it will be a knob or screw. Lefty loosey/righty tighty for the adjustment.
Or, you could use a walking foot. They are about $20 at JoAnn.
The walking foot is like a presser foot with feed dogs, so you have the WF and the feed dogs in the machine working together to move the layers of fabric.
You still need to baste the layers together and this is done by hand with needle and thread, using a long stitch or with the pins.
There is a product out for sewing that is temporary adhesive
You spray it on, it will hold your fabric together while sewing. I used it when I made a huge 3 layer Christmas skirt. Dritz makes one too, but I like sulky the best
Really need a little more info, but when in doubt, use more pins! Sew right up to the pin before you take it out, then sew to the next one. Maybe you also need to pin or baste across the middle, instead of just around the edges to prevent the fabric from scooting around.