Have you ever experimented with your ¼” foot? Or, maybe you have more than one and they each give you a different seam allowance.
This week, I thought I would show the remarkable difference produced by sewing machine feet and what to do about it. I started with a couple of these crumb packs of 2½” squares. I assigned a different foot to be used when piecing each stack and set out to see what would happen.
Here you have one seam sewn with both feet: one stitched with the “narrow” foot and the other with the wider foot. Both of these feet claim to be ¼”, but one is clearly a scant ¼”. You would get a similar result with a needle position change.
Here, I have two four patches so far, one seam in each direction. There is a slight difference between the two, but it's almost not noticeable at this stage.
However, once I put the ruler on them to measure, I could see the problem forming. These blocks should measure 4½” across at this stage. The blue one is right on, but the black one is over by almost ⅛” already…. and that will add up.
Now, you can see that the difference is more pronounced. These are sixteen patches, so they have three seams in each direction. The blue one is still close to what it should be at 8½”, but the black one is almost ⅜” off and close to 9” across.
I turned the blocks on point and added the corner units for the final layout. These will likely be pillow tops. Maybe I’ll turn one into a cute zip pouch, so the size isn’t imperative, but this was eye-opening.
I laid the smaller one over the larger one and you can really see the difference here. Like I said this, isn’t a problem for what I planned for these, but if you were trying to put these blocks into the same quilt, this would be a big problem.
Some things to think about for piecing consistency. Use the same machine and the same needle position for the entire project. If you switch machines, do a practice block to dial in your needle position to match what you did while using another machine. Do a tester four patch, like the one I showed first, with four 2½” squares, if it does not come out to 4½”, you’ll need to either switch feet or adjust your needle position accordingly. I hope this helps :)
Happy Sunday everyone,
Krista
P.S. Last week’s overwhelming response to our new Crimson Christmas quilt has been amazing! We have been feverishly working all week to get orders shipped. Thank you so much for your patience and don’t hesitate to send an email if you have a question. We are finally seeing the bottom of the email inbox, so the responses should be faster going forward :)
Follow all my quilty adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Visit my YouTube channel for free tutorials and tips. If you like my patterns, you can buy them on Etsy, and here on the website.