My big rush of shopping and wrapping is over, Whew! So now I can relax, do a little fixing up here and there and be ready for the small group that will gather this year. Some years I'm just swamped with stuff to do right up to the day of festivities but this year I think I have it under control, Yeah! I sure hope it's that way for you as well. While I actually am able to get a lot done when I'm under a deadline, stress is not my friend and I like to stay as far away from it as possible.
I was able to pick up another featherweight recently that had masking tape on the bed to mark the seam allowance again. Is that the way you mark the 1/4" for quilt piecing? It's a job getting that old dried up tape off and we'll talk about that on a later post but for today I want to chat just a bit about the many ways to get that illusive 1/4" seam allowance.
I guess the Singer Sewing Machine Company didn't think it was necessary to mark seam allowance lines on their throat plates because they didn't start doing that until the 1950's. Really? Did you ever make a project where the seam allowance wasn't important? I haven't. But many of us have those older machines with no lines and many of us can't just 'eye it'. The edge of the regular presser foot is not 1/4" so that doesn't work. I hope you haven't been doing that. And, putting the old creme colored masking tape on the machine bed isn't good either. If you are using tape, use the blue or green kind that painters use and don't let it sit too long. So, you have to do something or your projects aren't going to turn out right. So, what are your options?
What about this idea? You could use the Singer cloth guide that came with your machine so many years ago. Maybe you didn't even know what that little attachment was for. There is a screw hole on the bed of your machine to screw on the guide and you can loosen the screw to move the guide for a narrow or wide seam allowance. You should have that large screw in your box of attachments for that purpose. Don't go buy a screw at the hardware store. Singer's screws don't have the usual thread gauge sold today. They wanted you to have to go to the Singer store to buy anything for your sweet little machine and using a modern screw and forcing it into that hole will strip the threads and that's major damage. Don't do that!
Or, if you don't have one of the original cloth guides you can buy newer versions of that at the Singer Featherweight shop. Okay, I usually don't plug other places but this is one place that you want to check out. They are my go-to place when I need some advice and I'll be the first to admit I don't know everything. Their website is: www.singer-featherweight.com. This is a plastic guide that get's attached to the bed of the machine just like the original guide. And, they include a screw, too, just in case you don't have one with your machine. Nova Montgomery makes one, too.
I probably should have chatted about all of this when you still had time to put these things on your Christmas list, sorry. But you probably have a birthday coming up or you can just get what you need because it's what you want. That's what I do.
And, I wish you a fantastic Christmas. May it bring you joy and peace. And if you're feeling down and lonely, call someone. Go visit that relative that you haven't seen. Reach out. There are those that want you to get through any tough time and live on to see a better day. I want you to see a better day. I will always believe a better day is out there for each of us. And if you know of someone having difficulties, you do the reaching out. We need to help each other and make this world a better place. We'll chat after Christmas.... now go have a great day.
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