So I bought myself a walking foot with a 1/4" guide for Hepburn. I didn't even know these things existed, but at our LAMQG Retreat this Fall, Latifah introduced me to this little magical wonder. She pieces with her walking foot and mentioned that it helps especially sewing over some of those bulky seams, which makes sense. Then she showed me this little beauty. I knew I must have it.
I tried to find it online (not terribly hard, but hard enough) and had some trouble finding one. Then, one day while I was working in Tennessee I noticed a little sewing machine shop down the road, that happened to be a certified Janome dealer. I stopped in on my lunch break to ask if they carried the foot. They said they did, and I got excited, but then had a heap of trouble finding it. Sadly, I thanked them for trying and told them where I was working for the day just in case they were able to find one. Half an hour later they came looking for me. They had the foot! They were so friendly and helpful. If you're ever in Murfreesboro, TN be sure to stop by Absolutely Fun Sewing and Embroidery.
I decided to take it for a test run on some of my (past-due) bee blocks. Caitlin had asked us to make Scrap Buster Blocks from Little Miss Shabby's tutorials. Her request was that we use black, white and gray scraps for the 1.5" squares and a bright solid like an orange or pink for the strips.
Piecing was going really well. I seemed to be moving right along making the 1.5" square rows and then I started to put the block together. My scrappy rows were consistently too short. I measured them up against the foot guide and it seemed fine. I didn't have the stamina to start all over again so I decided to try and solve the problem rather than "scrap" it. I cut the solid strips wider than in the tutorial and that seemed to help. Then I realized the problem. My needle isn't matching up with the guideline on my new walking foot!
Ugh. I just assumed that it would automatically be aligned. Well, you know what happens when you assume? You screw up your scrap buster blocks! Ugh! I think I was able to salvage the blocks without starting completely from scratch. I had a few extra 1.5" squares left over from cutting, so I ended up adding extra squares to each scrappy row. That, paired with the wider solid strips helped me to save the blocks. They're now just a scant bi shy of 12.5" square, so I think Caitlin will still be able to work with them. But sigh. These are definitely not my best work.
i bought that foot but i never use it. i had to move my needle position to a ridiculous level to get a 1/4" seam, plus my fabric tends to want to veer off at an angle when i piece. i regret buying it actually. the regular O2 foot works fine most of the time.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you made 2 orange because I made 2 pink. I had trouble with my squares too...i think it might be an issue with the block design.
ReplyDeleteAww, bummer! But just think, now that you know and can adjust your needle, that foot is going to be terrific to have. :)
ReplyDeleteI love te foot! The reason you have to move the needle position is to take full advantage of the accused top feed dogs.
ReplyDeleteOh sweary words! I never use the 1/4" foot on my machine because it isn't actually 1/4", more like 3/8", and you can't adjust the needle position at all, it only has a tiny hole for the needle to go through
ReplyDeleteI think I might know what the issue with the new foot is - I have the same foot for my Janome6600P but it was sold to me with a special needle plate & I was told to use them together, not sure if you have the same machine but if you do perhaps this might explain your problem?
ReplyDeleteOh sad but they look nice!
ReplyDeleteOh no!!! :( Most of the time I have good reccomendations. I don't use my 1/4" Dual Feed foot a ton. Now, I will have to go test mine out!!!
ReplyDeleteLatifah, your recommendation was good. I just needed to learn how to use it properly. I ended up bumping the needle positioning over to 5.7 / 6.0ish (thanks to Flaun) and it is now aligned and I am loving it when I have to be precise in my piecing. Thank you for the recommendation on the foot. It really helped and now I'm using my regular walking foot for all other piecing on your advice. You rock!
DeleteI bump mine over to 6.0 to get a scant 1/4"; use it ALL the time.
ReplyDeleteThey look good! I have done this before, I had my needle set to a scant 1/4" was sewing a block, turned my machine off went downstairs to eat, came back upstairs and when I turned my machine back on it was reset to over a 1/4" and I didn't even think about, and the block was ruined haha.
ReplyDelete