Journal

The Sewing Journal

53 articles on machines, technique, fabric and repair, with new ones published every week.

Cording and piping feet have a channel or groove underneath that cradles a raised cord so your stitching lands right

A skipped stitch means the hook missed the thread loop. Work through the causes in order of likelihood, starting with

Bias strips stretch and curve because no yarn runs the length of the strip. That single structural fact explains how to

A walking foot, sometimes called an even-feed or dual-feed foot, adds a second set of feed dogs on top so the layers

Free-motion and darning feet are what let you quilt curves, stipple, and write with thread.

A zipper foot is narrow so the needle can stitch right up against a zipper coil, a piped edge, or any bulky seam the

A longarm moves the machine over a fixed quilt instead of the reverse. Here is how renting, sending out and buying

Washing is the main thing that wears clothes out, and the research is fairly specific about which parts of it do the

A quarter-inch foot is the first specialty foot most quilters buy, because piecing lives or dies on a consistent seam

Presser feet are the simplest way to make a machine do more, and most people use three when the box holds a dozen jobs.

Grainlines, notches, dots and dart legs are a compact instruction set. Here is what each symbol on a sewing pattern

The scant quarter inch exists because thread and the fold of a pressed seam occupy real space. Here is how to test your