July Aha!

Aha #1:  Me and my Narrow Hemmer Foot

I love words such as "clearance", "sale" and "free".  So when I learned that my sewing machine comes with additional sewing feet, I was convinced that I got a great bargain.  However, some of those free feet are tricky because I DID NOT KNOW HOW TO USE THEM!  The most challenging presser foot trophy goes to my narrow hemmer foot.

Great looking foot, isn't it?

Common sense told me that anything problem could be solved if I just read!  So I read the 2 pages of "How To Use Narrow Hammer Foot" again and again.  Tested on my poor scrap so many times that the top edge unraveled.  Still, could not feed the fabric into the curled part of the presser foot far enough to make a stitch.  As I struggled, I would look at my user's manual and go "Are you sure about this?"  (Arrrrrrr!)


I even found a tutorial online for Mastering the Narrow Hemmer here:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3947/mastering-the-narrow-hemmer-part-two
Tried and failed...

Then, I thought to myself, "Self, why don't we start stitching 2-3" down instead of  feeding that tiny corner into the curl part?"  So I put the presser foot 2" down from the top of the fabric and tried to feed the fabric into the curl part from there.  Sure enough, Aha!  It worked!  The fabric was catching.  When I started stitching, I saw this beautiful narrow hem forming.  No sweat.  I am dreaming of all the possibilities of using this presser foot right now.  And the best part is now there's no more fear. 

Aha #2: Buttonhole  Foot setting on the bag

The buttonhole foot is an odd ball.  It does not fit into my small box for the presser feet family.  I left it in the original plastic zipper bag and got my "aha".

I wrote a short summary of how to use this presser foot (and the page number of the user's manual for detail reading, just in case) on the bag.  Later, I added the setting adjustment, too.  I do not sew buttonholes that frequently, but whenever I do now, it's a breeze. 

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