Pfaff Presser Foot Review

Stitch-in-Ditch foot, source

One of my birthday presents was an Edge Stitching presser foot for my Pfaff, what they call a Stitch-in-Ditch foot.  I was excited at the thought of almost effortless straight line in-the-ditch quilting--with IDT! (built-in walking foot)

I attached the new presser foot, checked settings, and started sewing.  Sadly, the guide causes a 1/8" gap between the seam and your stitching.  So disappointing!  I played with it some more and always had the same problem.  The foot is being returned. 

Blindhem foot, source

Then I remembered that I'd had good results with the Blind Hem (aka Overcast) foot that came with my machine.  The wire that runs under the foot sits in the ditch very well.  Depending to which side the seam allowances are pressed, I steer with the seam centered on the red adjustable guide or approx. 1/8" to the right, centered on the guide's "blade."

The edge stitching foot I'd originally seen was an older version (L), the new version (R) is the one I tried.

New style, source

Old style, source

I wonder whether the old version stitches closer to the ditch: the blade appears thinner.  It allows for adjustment of needle placement and use of decorative stitches.  The new version has many handy 1/4" markings.  Both are IDT compatible.

I haven't been able to try the old version, though, and am doing fine with the blind hem foot.

Sewing Machine Covers

Sewing machine cover

I almost finished these in 2010...  Using the remaining fabric from the wall art piece, I sewed up a couple sewing machine covers.  They're pretty simple: pieces the size of the sides and top of the machine (plus SAs) sewn together with piping.  The piping made it a more involved project but I really like the result.  I'd never used piping before and it was surprisingly easy.  I definitely recommend a rotary cutter.

Serger Cover

Unfortunately the sewing machine cover is floppy.  I made it tall enough to keep thread on the spool pins but didn't consider that this makes the top very uneven.  I have some nylon tulle that I'll add to the top, front and back to sturdy it up.



The second cover is for my serger.  This was simpler but also could use some stiffening, at least in the top portion.

Piping

My piping is far from perfect but I definitely improved by the end of the project.  I cut the piping 1.5cm wide, with 1cm SAs and .5cm for the piping itself.  I used white yarn from my stash to fill it.

With the zipper foot I sewed the piping to one piece of fabric, then sewed the two pieces of fabric together with piping sandwiched in the middle.  I learned to sew just outside my first stitching line to hide the previous stitching.  Halfway through the project I thought of this ;)

UFOs (UnFinished Objects)

I have a few--we're only talking sewing now, k? lol  I also have several projects in the planning stages.  I thought I'd list some to give myself a kick in the butt and hopefully polish some off!

Oldest: Brown/Purple faux suede jacket, lined and interlined for warmth.  I started this right: made a muslin and fitted the pattern before cutting.  Then I realized that I'd get very little use out of such a thin jacket.  I found some awful poly stable knit, perfect to add warmth, and it has stretch to match the suede.  The jacket was sewn together at this point, however, so I needed to rip out the seams and resew them.  I also had done no tailoring so wasn't sure how much interfacing, what kind, where.

Now I've learned a bit more and have a cool buttonholer device.  Once the 1930s blouse is out of the way I'll try to finish this jacket and wear it this autumn.  Or winter...or next spring.

Most needed: A quilt.  An autumn leaf-shaped quilt for a sofa throw.  It's beautiful and I only need to finish the quilting then bind it.  It's not too hard to straight line quilt, it's the free motion that's worrying me.  I've never made a quilt using free motion quilting, thus have very little experience with it, so am not very good.  I need to give up the idea of it being perfect and accept that it'll be good enough, and done.

Main problem with this one: Once I'm set up to quilt I can't sew anything else, and vise versa.

Most under my skin: 1930s blouse.  I need to just finish it and move on.  I'm wondering whether the waist ties may help the saggy boob look.  Only one way to find out!

Newest: Some undies that just need elastic.  It's new fabric so I'm not sure how they'll fit.  Should take less than 2 hours to complete both pair.

So the plan is to finish the dreaded 30s blouse, set up the machine for quilting and work on it a bit each day.  This was working until I got the itch to sew clothes.  Theoretically I could set up the Singer for quilting but that's a whole new set of skills I don't want to try and master just yet, thank you very much.

My Sewing Machines

I began sewing over 20 years ago with my mom showing me some basics on her Bernina.  When I first became ill in high school and was home all day I picked up quilting.  I used my mom's machine and made a few quilts with it.

My grandmother bought me my own machine, a Pfaff 6091, as a graduation gift.  Despite not having attended the last 1 1/2 years of HS I graduated in the top 5%, as a National Merit Scholar.  I'd worked very hard before the illness.  /bragging

Pfaff 6091: She's no beauty queen but I love her!

I saw a sewing cabinet and machine at a local thrift store and bought it, approx 2002.  It sewed but the wires were chewed up.  Not knowing how to clean it, much less thread it!, I used the cabinet as a table for about 7 years.  Then I found some great Singer resources online and cleaned her up.  I took apart as many moving parts as possible, cleaned and oiled them, and put them back together.   The machine had been well cared for but I like knowing how it works and that everything's lubricated and functioning correctly.

I bought a few replacement parts: new power cord, bobbin slide plate, belt, bobbin winder tires and bobbins.  That's it!  It also came with the original box of accessories and Ziz Zag and Buttonholer attachments.

Singer 66-16

Two years ago I bought a Babylock serger, BL400, off cragslist.  It's identical to the BL450 Lauren, only cheaper ;)  I'd been looking for an affordable serger for over a year.  It's a great reliable serger so far.  Tension settings sometimes get the best of me but only on tricky fabrics.

BL 400 serger

I like that all my machines are mechanical and I can maintain them myself.  The help found online makes this possible and I'm grateful to everyone who shares their knowledge to help others.