The Sewing Place
Machine Talk => Machine Accessories => Topic started by: Arloony on May 21, 2020, 09:43:20 AM
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Good morning everyone,
I am a complete beginner to quilting and cannot wait to get starting :)
I hear a 1/4 inch stitch makes it easier to work with.
I purchased a 1/4 inch presser foot.
Does anyone know how to set up my Brother LS14 for it? Do I have to buy another adaptor?
I have been looking everywhere for this answer, I really hope you can help me. xx
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Hi there
Now you have your quarter inch foot you'll see it has a lil guide on the right hand side (as you look at it head on)
Place two pieces of fabric (we Darksiders use 100 % cotton most of the time, but not always :devil: )
Line up the edges nicely together ...
Sew a straight line of stitching, making sure the guide runs along the edge of the fabric.
Sew this line maybe 4 to 6 inches long ...
Cut your threads, remove the sewn fabrics ...
and taking an accurate tape measure or ruler measure the distance from the edge of the fabric to the line of stitching ...
It should measure 1/4".
Review of your machine (https://sewingmachineexpert.co.uk/sewing-machines/brother-ls14/)
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Are you asking about setting the size of the sewn stitches to 1/4 inch? Because that would be way too long for most sewing. As Iminei has described the 1/4 inch refers to the seam allowance.
I'm not familiar with your particular machine but whatever default stitch length it does is probably fine for the majority of things that you will want to sew, unless you want some sort of special affect.
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Most piecing stitches are set on the computerized machines at 1.8 or 2.
Its a small stitch length because you dont want the seams coming apart before you piece your blocks and there are a lot of techniques that require cutting apart a newly sewn block and then sewing it back together in a different order ...
Yes Really we are all as mad as a box of frogs here!
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Thank you as always.
Just tried and it measures 1/4 inch :) HAPPY DAYS!
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There's no magic about it being ΒΌ inch. The point is that has become the standardized seam allowance in quilting so virtually all instructions and patterns are written for it. Also consistency is very important.
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@Renegade Sewist is right. Although in UK we now use metric for most things, in the darkside world of P&Q nearly all of the books, patterns, tools etc are American and they still use imperial measurements including inches rather than cm. So 1/4inch seams are the norm.
To check if you are sewing a true 1/4 inch seam take three strips of fabric cut to exactly 2 inches wide x 5 inches long. Sew them together with 1/4 inch seams so that you get a square. Press the seams open (in P&Q it's usual to press both to the same side) and measure your square block. If it measures exactly 5 inches x 5 inches your cutting and sewing are spot on 0_0. If the width across the block is bigger your seams are too scant, if the width is smaller your seams are too deep and if the length is out then your cutting was faulty.