Quilting Tips and Tricks
Sewing Perfect Quarter-inch (6 mm) Seams
- Use the Presser Foot as a
Seam Guide. On
some sewing machines, the distance from the needle to the right
edge of the standard presser foot is one-quarter inch. Test yours
by aligning the right edge of the fabric with the right edge of
the foot and sew a test seam. If your seam width measures one-quarter
- Adjust the Needle Position. If your machine has
this feature, adjust the needle position one notch at a time and
sew a seam each time, using your favorite method of alignment.
When your seam allowance measures one-quarter inch exactly, make
a note of the machine's settings (which are likely to be metric
- Use
a Seam Guide. Many
sewing machines come with an adjustable screw-in seam guide. Or
you can make a guide. Draw a line on a piece of graph paper one-quarter
inch from the edge. With the seam allowance on the right, place
the paper under the presser foot, bring the needle down through
the line and release the foot. Do not remove the needle. Build
up several layers of masking tape on a flat surface; align the
edges as you add each layer. Adhere this tape guide next to the
needle, aligning the edge of the tape with the edge of the paper.
Test drive the seam guide to be sure the tape is straight by sewing through the line on the paper, with the edge of the paper against the guide. If your seam is on the pencil line, you made a perfect quarter-inch seam guide. If not, reposition the guide and try again until it's right. Test it on fabric, just to be sure! As you stitch, look at the fabric rather than the needle and run the raw edge against the ridge created by the tape.
- Purchase a Quarter-inch Presser Foot. Ask your sewing machine dealer or quilt shop owner about a special presser foot for your sewing machine. Have your machine's make and model number ready.
What
About Metric?
Even
though I've been told that some quilters who measure in metric prefer
a 5 or 7.5 mm seam allowance to 6, which is closest to one-quarter
inch, those are not options with From Marti Michell templates. You
must sew a 6 mm seam to have the specific-size shapes fit together
accurately.
Excerpted from the Encyclopedia of Patchwork Blocks, Volume 3 published by Michell Marketing, Inc. ©1998 Martha G. Michell
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