Chapter 5 - Machine Attachments

Use the instruction book that comes with your sewing machine for exact instructions for using individual attachments. Some are very easy and are attached to the machine and used almost as easily as the regular presser foot. Others are more complicated, but all can very easily be learned if you take the time to concentrate on them. An evening spent with the ruffler is not too much time really to learn how to attach it, and how to use it for the various purposes for which it is intended. Be sure to concentrate on how to get started, how to end off, how to work the attachment at corners, what to do at seam joinings, how to pull bobbin thread up.

With the development of the new zigzag machines, it is possible to achieve most of the desired results without the use of attachments.

The cloth guide is used to help you to sew a straight line the desired distance from the edge of the fabric. A screw changes the position of the guide for narrower or wider spacing.

Hemmers come in various widths so that you may get the desired size. The adjustable hemmer can be adjusted, as its name indicates, for different size hems. The foot hemmer turns the raw edge of the material twice and stitches a narrow hem about V\ inch. The biggest problem for the beginner is how to hold the fabric at the proper angle as it is drawn through the hemmer. With very thin material, allow thin paper to feed through the hemmer with the fabric.

The binder encases the edge of the fabric with binding and stitches it flat. The end of the binding is cut on the diagonal, then inserted and pulled through the scroll of the binder. The edge of the fabric is held firmly in the slot, for, if it slips, the binding may not catch it. If you have a zigzag machine, you will find that the zigzag stitch holds the binding more securely in place, and may also furnish a more decorative effect. Binders usually take width #5 binding, but multiple-slotted binders now take other widths.

The gatherer will make gathers of varied fullness, depending on the size stitch you are using. A longer stitch will increase fullness. Very lovely effects are gotten on sheer fabrics.

The cording foot is an indispensable attachment for which special practice is not necessary. It is attached just like the presser f oot, and might be called a one-toed presser foot. There are two styles available, with right or left toe. The choice of either of these is strictly an individual one, for either will do the same work. This attachment will enable you to insert cording into a strip of bias so that the stitching is very close to the cord. It can also be used for inserting zippers, although there is also a zipper foot.

The buttonholer, though a rather expensive attachment, will pay for itself many times over if you are going to sew a lot, especially if you are going to sew for children. The attachment has a series of templates which are changed as you desire a change in the size of the buttonhole. The buttonholes may be adjusted for the length of the hole, the number of stitches, the height or depth of the stitches, and the cutting space between stitches in the center of the buttonhole. A razor or a very sharply pointed pair of scissors is used to cut the buttonholes after the stitching is complete. A very strong buttonhole may be made by stitching around twice.

Buttonholes can also be made with a zigzag machine without any attachments. Unlike buttonholes made with the attachment, these buttonholes can be made to any length, and can be corded to add strength.

The zipper foot was designed to enable the worker to sew very close to the metal of the zipper. It has an adjustable slide feature that allows you to stitch on either side of the metal.

The quilting foot is short and has turned-up edges in front so that padded parts of the quilting can easily slip under the quilter. A guide bar enables you to space evenly between lines of stitching.

Craft guide is used to make all kinds of trimmings and edgings. There are two steel prongs, with a slot in the middle, attached to a handle. Yarn, braid, ribbon, or tubing is wound around the prongs and fastened at one end with a paper clip. The guide spaces the trimming material and feeds it evenly under the presser foot as you stitch in the slot. An instruction sheet comes with the craft guide and gives full instructions for its use, even to making rugs.

The edge stitcher stitches edges together with very little overlap. It is used for making pin tucks, for piping with ribbon or braid, or for applying lace.

The tucker helps you to get tucks of even width and even spaces between tucks. The first tuck is creased by hand, and, as the tucker stitches it, the place for the second tuck is marked.

The fagoter imitates hand fagoting. Thread or yarn is wound around the prongs of the fagoter and is stitched to position over paper. The fabric is stitched over this, and the paper torn away.

The zigzagger makes a zigzag stitch whose length and width may be easily varied. This kind of stitch is very useful for applique work by machine, for applying lace, for monograms and other decorative effects. Since the zigzagger catches various levels of the thread, it gives a firm hold and prevents raveling.

The difference between the zigzag attachment and the zigzag machine is basic. The attachment moves the fabric from side to side; in the zigzag machine the needle moves from side to side. Thus the width of the stitch may be varied as you sew to produce many novel effects.

The hemstitcher separates the threads of the fabric and overcasts them into position. The hemstitching thus gotten is durable and accurate. If it is cut through the center, a picot edge results. Hemstitching is frequently done on table linens and as a decorative note for women's clothes.

The ruffler is an attachment which looks a lot more complicated than it really is. With a little practice, you will be able to make ruffles, pleats, group pleats and gathered effects that are beautifully professional in appearance. Keep the ruffler well oiled.

The walking presser foot is an ingenious device that enables the seamstress to stitch together two fabrics of unlike textures without slipping or stretching, thus keeping the fabrics on grain and preserving the true lines of the fashion design. The presser foot is particularly useful when stitching garments that require use of facings, interfacings, or linings. For example, if the surface fabric is a hard-to-handle velvet and the lining a satin fabric, the walking presser foot will keep the two fabrics perfectly aligned. Unlike the ordinary presser foot, the two toes of the walking presser foot move independently. The left moves in unison with the feed of the sewing machine while the right holds the material firmly in position during the stitching.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...