SEWING BASICS ————————————————————————————————————————————

Sewing thin fabrics

When sewing thin fabrics, the stitching may become misaligned or the fabric may not feed correctly.

If this occurs, place thin paper or stabilizer material under the fabric and sew it together with the fabric. When you have finished sewing, tear off any excess paper.

a

aStabilizer material or paper

Sewing stretch fabrics

First, baste the pieces of fabric together, and then sew without stretching the fabric.

a

aBasting

Using the stretch stitches or the thread for knits gives an attractive finish.

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5

9

10

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Sewing an even seam allowance

To sew an even seam, start sewing so that the seam allowance is to the right of the presser foot, and the edge of the fabric is aligned with either the right edge of the presser foot or a marking on the needle plate.

■Aligning the fabric with the presser foot

Sew while keeping the right edge of the presser foot aligned with a fixed distance from the edge of the fabric.

aSeam

bPresser foot

Memo

￿If the straight stitch (left needle position, triple stretch stitch, basting stitch etc.) is selected, you can change the distance between the seam and the right edge of the presser foot by changing the stitch width. For details, refer to "Changing the needle position" (page 83).

■Aligning the fabric with a needle plate marking

The markings on the needle plate show the distance from the needle position of a seam sewn with the straight stitch (left needle position). Sew while keeping the edge of the fabric aligned with a marking in the needle plate. The distance between the markings in the upper scale is 1/8 inch (3 mm) and the distance between the markings in the grid is 5 mm (3/16 inch).

5

1

4

2

3

6

aSeam

bPresser foot c Centimeters d Inches

e Needle plate

f 1.6 cm (5/8 inch)

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