Re-purposing Feet

Let's talk about top stitching. It really helps finish off a garment and give it that professional look. If you're like me, you sweat over top stitching. You go really slow so you can keep everything lined up nicely. A few months ago, someone mentioned that they use an edge foot (or something like that, but that's what I remembered later when I was sewing) and it made things so much faster. So when I was working on top stitching later that week, I thought, "I bet something in that bag of feet that came with my machine is an edge foot!"

Did I LOOK at my book? Nope. I looked at my feet. The first one I picked up was my G foot. I have a Brother CS6000i machine. So this is the foot I found...

 I took one look at it and thought it would be perfect for staying next to that hem and top stitching... So I snapped it on and tried it out. This is now how I use it! I know, I know, I know... (Or more like I know NOW!) it's an overcasting foot! If I didn't have a serger, I might know that! But since I have a serger, I've never needed to know how to 'serge' the edges using my sewing machine. So this is how I use the G foot.

But sometimes, I need to top stitch fabrics that aren't always flat on both sides like the above piece. Ruffles are NOT flat. I was using my  foot for ruffles and it was going slower than it was when I was using my regular foot. The ruffles or gathers would bunch up and I would have to stop and straighten them out. So I went back to my little bag of sewing feet. Did I look at my book? Nope. I used my eyes. This is what I came up with.

This is the R Brother foot. It's a blind stitch foot. I can't find one on Amazon to link over here, but it came with my machine. Check your bag of goodies! Anyway, the blade sits in the ditch and keeps my nice ruffles from bunching up like it did on the end of that overcasting foot. This is what it looks like when I top stitch with gathers. This was the bodice of a full twirl top (Lazy Susan by Brownie Goose).

You can barely see the blade here, but it makes top stitching SO much faster and keeps my machine nicely in line. I like taking the stress out of my top stitching! I still sweat over it, but not nearly as much!

Pressing Seams Eas{il}y

"Take the panels to the iron and press up a half-inch seam all along the bottom edge of both panels." HOW many times do you grown and grumble as you tote your ruler and project to the ironing board? When I use my ruler, I always end up with singed finger tips... but that's just me. No body else in the world ever has the same problem, right? But if you do, I've got a better way!

When I first made a pair of Easy Fit Pants, I was excited about the folding template that came with it! It made pressing those hems and waistbands SO much easier! At first, I only used the template for the Easy Fit Pants, but then I started making my own lines on it and using it for other patterns. I LOVE Brownie Goose patterns... so this is how I used the template with this pair of Lola Bells.

First, I pressed the serged bottom edge up a half inch to create my hem. I already have the .5 line on this template. 

Next, I want to press the waistband casing. This template doesn't yet have a two inch line, so I used my ruler than I despise for folding to create another line. 

Then it's back to the ironing board to press the waistband down two inches. If you're a BG pattern aficionado, you're probably wondering why in the world am I pressing the waistband down BEFORE joining the front and back panels. Well, I despise ironing in the 'round' about as much as pressing with my ruler. So I create memory creases before sewing and then I don't have to press it again! 

There you go. If you're looking for a good template, Carla from The Scientific Seamstress has a free downloadable one on her blog! Get it here!