Sewing With Nancy

I learned to sew using two presser feet the foot that came with the machine and a zipper foot. Little did I know that I was presser foot challenged! Soon I discovered that specialty presser feet could improve very specific techniques. Later, I passed this information along in a series, "Fancy Footworks." Not all feet were featured, so you guessed it it's time for a sequel, "Fancy Footworks 2." The first spotlight feature is a stitch-in-ditch foot. When binding a project the foot makes easy work of quilt binding. "Fancy Footworks 2" that's what's next on Sewing with Nancy. Sewing with Nancy, &nbspcelebrating 30 years of sewing and quilting with Nancy Zieman

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To do this, our fancy foot has a funny attachment on the right side. It's a foot that has an opening for a straight stitch but then these attachable guides go on the side. They're called fences, and they have a ridge that aligns next to the thickness of the fabric. The thicker the fabric, the taller the ridge or fence that you need. On the top of my machine I have two of the other fences. You can kind of see, here's the tallest one this is the medium one. You align this with the thickness of your fabric to see which one you should attach. The fence is where you'll guide the fabric. Then there are some measurements that are printed on the foot itself. You can see the 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", etc. Whatever width that you'd like for your binding. I'm going to use this foot for both stitchings of the binding. If I would like a finished 1/4" binding for the first stitching I'm going to set the guide so it is on the other side of the 1/4" so not exactly at 1/4", but a scant 1/4". I'm going to tighten down the screw. I already have another one of the same foot attached to my machine. Make sure you set your machine at a straight stitch. Often, I start to sew without looking at what stitch I have! It only has an opening for a straight stitch. You can follow your favorite binding technique. I have a really small little sample. My favorite technique is to leave a tail of the binding. I have it double folded. I cut it 2-1/2" and folded it in half meeting the wrong sides. I have the settings at a scant-- whatever measurement I'd like. In this instance it's a little scant of 1/4". I sew, just meeting my fabric right to the edge. I have a chalk mark 1/4" from the edge because this is going to be 1/4" binding. I'll just stop and cut my threads. Then follow your favorite technique of folding it back. I like to fold it at a 45-degree angle. Fold the fabric so that the fold is aligned with the cut edges of the fabric. So you have that funny little fold that we've done so often on Sewing with Nancy. You align this again with the edge of the fabric next to the fence. You can start sewing right at the fold. Just guide it along the fabric. You can stop again and do the folding and so forth. What I mainly want to impress upon you is that you can guide the fabric along this fence. The purpose of this is when I bring this up to show you how this is folded you have a narrower 1/4" seam not a true 1/4" seam. Then you wrap this around to the side so this wraps and that funny fold at the corner gives you a nice mitered corner. Then you clip or pin the binding down. The wider edge will fold to the underside. You can use traditional pins or clips. I've used paper clips, and I've used sewing clips. I like this for binding because when you have lots of pins around the edge you can get poked easily. That's why I've used these clips. Now back to my foot. So that I can stitch right in the well of the seam I'm going to adjust and move the fence so that it's exactly at that 1/4" line. I'm just going to adjust it so it's aligned perfectly. Tighten it down. So, a scant at first and then at the line because we are allowing for the fold of the fabric. Now I can stitch-in-the-ditch that crazy sewing term where we stitch in the well of the seam. I think I'm going to adjust this just a little bit more. That's the beauty of it. I realize my arm is in the way but I'm going to get it just the way I like it. I have the needle sunk at the seam. And yeah, I'm going to tighten it right there. Adjusting is always needed. Then stitch. So once I get it adjusted, it's a breeze to stitch. It just gives me a built-up area of where to sew. So, if you have difficulty when you're putting binding on this is an option for you working with a foot that gives you a guideline or in this instance, it's called a fence. As I turn the corner I'll just stop with the needle in the fabric. It's even easy to turn the corner, keeping it aligned. I'll continue to sew. Okay, I'm dropping the clips on the floor! It makes a bit more noise than a traditional pin. I'll just finish this area and then I'll show you the results of my stitching. As we look at the stitching here is the area. The seam is hidden in this well. When we flip to the underside you can see it's fairly even because I've used the fence guide on the foot for both stitchings. If you have a lot of bindings whether they're very narrow or they're very thick you may want to consider this specialty foot for sewing and quilting pleasure. This "Fancy Footworks" presser foot has similarities to ice skating. Unfortunately, you're not going to benefit from the exercise advantage but you'll glide over fabric just like gliding on ice when using a Teflon foot. It's ideal for hard-to-sew fabrics. Here are the why's and the wherefore's of using this specialty foot. Straight stitching is what you'll need on vinyls, suedes and leathers, but yet, because of the texture of the fabric you might have a difficult time stitching it. The sticky surface might drag on the presser foot. Here's a suede. Here's a vinyl. Even on leather, when it has some nap you might have difficultly You'll be using a straight stitch so that's not the issue. It's sewing on a texture that's different than a cotton or a wool. As the name implies, for a Teflon foot there's a little portion of Teflon on the underside where the foot will glide on the fabric. This makes it easier for stitching. You can kind of see the white-on-white there's a shiny area that is the Teflon section. We're going to talk a little bit about different fabric types and why you'd use it. Vinyls. Vinyls and laminated fabrics are so popular right now. Most of these fabrics have a cotton batting or a fabric type batting so it's easy to sew the seam when you are sewing right sides together. You'll just purr right along and sew that straight seam. But then, it's difficult to press. Even finger pressing it just springs right back into place. No matter what you do you're not going to be able to press this flat. You have to stitch down the seam allowances. This fabric is best used with very simple seaming straight edges, not a lot of curves. To position this down I'm just going to straight stitch it. Just with about a "2.5" or "3.0" stitch length. Pretty traditional. As it sews, it just glides. That's all there is to it, nothing more than that just using the right tool for the right fabric. Let me just do it on both sides. This is what I tend to do, use very simple seaming so that I can stitch down the seam allowances. The other advantage, or another consideration you might have when working with vinyl and fabric such as this you may want to consider using a stretcher ball point needle to easily go through this fabric. It's not hard, it doesn't look very difficult but perhaps some feet may stick on this surface. Give that Teflon some consideration-- Give that Teflon foot some consideration. Since we're talking about some specialty fabrics fabrics with texture and nap suede and suede-like fabrics come to mind. I'd also choose this foot for that fabric. Often, when I can, I trim off the seam allowance. I cut off the 5/8" seam allowances on the fabric on my left side. On the right side, I mark the 5/8" seam allowance. I just overlap wrong side to right side. Rather then there being a seam, it's just an overlap and it will lie flat. It's kind of tricky to pin. It was difficult for me to get that pin into place because that fabric has great strength. You could clip, sometimes I even used a paper glue stick believe it or not just to tack the two layers together then just overlap and stitch. I don't have to worry about the fabric shifting because it's gliding so well. It's kind of like watching paint dry to watch someone sew straight seams like this but if you have ever experienced this without the ease of the correct tool it doesn't go so easily, so give that a try. So, the hint here is when sewing specialty fabrics that have a lot of texture to them, loft. that are difficult to press, you'll need to topstitch. When you're topstitching on the textured side it doesn't flow well so use a foot that has silicone or Teflon on the underside. Use a stretch or ballpoint needle and you will find great success with these specialty fabrics. I have a closet filled with shoes. Shoes for all occasions and activities. It's the same with presser feet. I like to pair specific presser feet to individual sewing or quilting tasks. Here's what could be called the high heels of presser feet. The flower stitch foot is a fancy occasion presser foot. A creative option for many sewing machines. When you look at the close-up of our little sample of the decorative stitching if you have a basic beginner sewing machine you may not be able to stitch creative options. Zigzag, straight stitch perhaps it has a blind hem stitch. You wouldn't think about creating floral embellishments or even eyelet-looking stitching. You can with this fancy foot this high heels, as I call it, of the presser feet. It has many different parts to it. This is the bar that fits over the needle bar. As the machine stitches, the bar goes up. You can hear that clicking well this little bar is attached to the disk. and it's advancing along the disk so that the fabric goes in circle. That is how the circles are created with a straight stitch. Then you can create various sizes of circles small, medium and large, by loosening the screw which I'll do and then moving the interior section this is to the plus side. Loosen it a little more, over to the negative side. Small, medium, large, and each time it clicks. You can make sure you have it in the right position. Then lock it down where you'd like it to be. Do a little testing, first of all trying a utility stitch. Utility stitches are the blind hem stitch, zigzag, multiple zigzag stitch. At the different settings you could also do testing. Sometimes I spend more time testing than doing the actual sewing. It just saves some ripping out at a later point. You can see here I have the "M" and "L" for medium and large. Here are the three sizes nested together. This small little dot could almost be an eyelet. Here's a utility stitch on the largest and then the medium size. The fabric needs to be backed. It has to have a stabilizer. Cotton and lightweight fabrics all need some type of stabilizer or fusible. We just have a stabilizer attached so that the extra stitches will have some support on the back of the fabric. I've attached this foot onto my machine. I have that bar going over the needle bar. It takes a little time to put it on. It probably takes more time to put it on than to do the stitching. I have the guide set at the largest, at the positive side for the largest stitch. I'm doing a three-step zigzag. As I stitch, it will just go around, advance. You can watch the mechanics of this. It's fascinating how this works. It just sews all around and around. You can kind of get a mirror image. When you stop, and I've completed one circle if you would raise the foot and advance the wheel a couple of times-- It doesn't always recognize that the foot is lowered. Let's just get it going. There we go. Lower it. Then it will stitch almost just a shadow just one step over so that you'll get another look to this. You just have to kind of play around with it. It's interesting, that with a basic machine you can get an interesting look. Let me draw this up, cut the threads. Draw it up so you can see the look. So here we have a shadowed effect of that circle not just one row, but two rows. If you were going to nest various areas together I'm going to move this to the smaller size just place down a zigzag stitch. I have the machine set for a basic zigzag stitch a "3.0" width. The length isn't so much of an indicator because as the little bar goes around that determines the stitch length so you don't really have to worry about the length. It's just kind of hands-free sewing so that if you have a machine that doesn't do decorative stitches you're getting a decorative stitch just by sewing in circles. It's nicely satin stitching around this and now we're getting to completion. It's almost like a little eyelet that we have. To change the stitch to the medium or the large stitch again, I've raised the presser foot I'm going to loosen that screw, advance the bar to the plus, to the largest. I'm going to raise this and re-center the flower so that I'm in the middle. Lower the presser foot. Now I'm going to set it to more of a utility stitch for example, the multiple step zigzag stitch. That stitch goes three stitches one way and then three stitches the other way. A very common stitch for most basic sewing machines. So often on Sewing with Nancy, &nbspI use, and rightly so the top-of-the-line sewing machines that have lots of bells and whistles. But you can do lots of sewing with a very basic sewing machines and you can enjoy the process just as much. As I mentioned, you can have small, medium and large within one area. I'll show you what this looks like when we're done. I'll just let it cut the threads and bring it up. Let me cut some threads here to show you. We have one stray thread. We'll cut it away. You can kind of see the look that we are achieving. The satin stitch and the utility stitch around the edges. So you're going to do some experimentation and try many other options. I'm going to show you our sample once again. We have the multiple step zigzag in three sizes. We have satin stitches in three sizes. This is the multiple step zigzag and I advanced it so that it gets more of a halo effect. Then there's the utility stitch, like the blind hem stitch. So really, very basic stitches made fancy by the high heels of presser feet, the flower stitch foot. Say the word "Binky" and an immediate image of a much loved, worn out blanket comes to my mind. Knowing that not all kids have a binky the Binky Patrol, a non-profit organization has made it their mission to provide homemade blankets to children who need such love in the form of a blanket. Joining me via Skype is Susan Finch the founder of Binky Patrol to explain how you can be part of giving smiles and comfort to kids with binkies. Welcome to Sewing with Nancy, Susan. Thank you, Nancy. I really appreciate the invitation. Well, when I read and talked to you earlier about Binky Patrol I learned that around the country 750,000 blankets have been made and given away I was blown away, impressed. What a great organization. Let's to a plus or minus 10% on that! Oh, that's okay! Even 600,000, that's remarkable. Tell me about the chapters that you have around the country. Well, we have so many volunteers. We have about 120 chapters right now. We have some that are very quiet. They aren't listed on our website. Some schools like to join us Girl Scouts troops, and churches so they keep that just to their little groups. But the volunteers are people that are looking for a way to easily make a difference. Without having to be on a schedule spend a lot of time, or have a lot of rules. We make it easy for them. Speaking of rules, sizes are large to small for the blankets. Yes, that's the range. It's difficult, especially for quilters, as you know when you say, "Make it big." They say, "No, how big?" They want dimensions. You can't, because we help kids of every age. So we need all sizes. You have them down to two feet square up to twin size, is the range. We had to do the two feet square because some people wanted airplane size. "What size can I make while I'm traveling?" and "What's good for strollers and car seats?" This is Sewing with Nancy, so we sew and quilt but you also have knitted and crocheted versions. Yes, and then the children have become quite fond of those no-sew fleece type where you tie the knots. Yes, at the ends. If that's what they want to make, I'm okay with that. You recently told me about a quilting bee type of thing that you had on Martin Luther King Day. Tell us a little bit more about that. Oh, "quilting bee" makes it sound so much more glamorous than it was. It was more like a big sweat shop for the day. We had 50 sewing machines in one location and we had another 60 volunteers or 75 depending on the time, sitting on the floors and at tables, cutting and making as many blankets as we could in six hours. We had donated fabrics and backings. It was fabulous. What did you achieve in those six hours? 135 blankets. Wow, that's totally impressive. These blankets are given to children infants to 18 years of age. Give a little summery of where some of these blankets have gone. When I started it I wanted to make sure that there were no limitations based on social or economic status so any child that's hurting. Anybody that needs comfort, so if a child is in a shelter, going into foster care maybe their parents have had some trauma and the children are upset. Those that are ill and abused there are so many organizations that focus just on sick children. We wanted to make sure it's the invisible child the one who gets forgotten. Oh, sure. Well, Binky Patrol certainly has covered a lot of people with love and comfort and warmth. Reading your website, I was impressed that you said no egos are involved. No. I have a real problem with people that will say "Nobody sent me a thank you note!" Well, if you worked in a shelter and you're trying to serve these children that's where your priorities should be not writing a thank you note. Even though they're nice, and we like to be appreciated but just make the blankets! Let's get them out. A lot of us have some fabric that's waiting to be sewn that someone could really enjoy. This would be a great organization to make a blanket for. We have some quilters who like to donate their scraps. You can do that, too. Just make sure it's not a "quilter's scrap." We need them about one foot big. Thank you for being my guest on Sewing with Nancy and for sharing the Binky Patrol. What a wonderful organization. Thanks for being with us. Thank you so much for having us. If you would like more information on the Binky Patrol

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nancyzieman.com where you'll find all things Sewing with Nancy. You can watch a repeat of this program you can watch 52 shows plus get information on a Nancy's Corner guest. Click on Nancy's Corner, then also on our guest Susan Finch of the Binky Patrol and you can find out how you can be involved. Well, I hope you've enjoyed this program on "Fancy Footworks 2." We'll be back next time with another episode. Bye for now. Nancy's fully-illustrated "Fancy Footworks 2" workbook includes a 3-ring binder with laminated instructions for all the feet featured during this three-part series. It's $19.99, plus shipping and handling. To order the workbook, call 1-800-336-8373

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