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Post by Pandagirl on Mar 5, 2014 16:41:18 GMT
Wow Carole that leaf design is great. All the intricate stitch work around it is wonderful. I have to get the courage to try the free motion. I love the effects.
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Mar 5, 2014 17:34:01 GMT
I tried free-motion machine stitching while taking an embroidery class at the Gail Harker Center in Washington State a few years ago. I can honestly say I did not like it! It made me nervous and feeling out of control, somewhat like driving one of those bumper cars. I did enjoy the hand embroidery portion of the class and wished we had spent more time on that. But everyone is different, and I know the free-motion is appealing to many, especially quilters.
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Post by Pandagirl on Mar 5, 2014 19:03:40 GMT
Cathy, I have to admit I'm a little intimidated. I had enough trouble figuring out to put on the free motion foot! But I plan to give it go anyways. :-)
I did hand stitching on the eyeglass case I made. That took me forever and my arthritic hands didn't like me much afterwards. It's been along time since I did embroidery work obviously. But I'm always game for trying new things. Well except maybe skydiving.
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Post by luvswool and dyestuff on Mar 6, 2014 0:36:30 GMT
I can attest to the fact that free motion machine embroidery is not as scary as skydiving! Give it a go-- (free motion, not free falling!)
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Post by carole aka craftywoman on Mar 6, 2014 7:07:20 GMT
Very close Ruth, I used sun dyes, just laid out leaf shapes over painted fabric and left it out in the sun, the dye under the shape stays white, or what ever the base colour is, great fun to use and so easy - so they tick all my boxes :-)
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Post by carole aka craftywoman on Mar 6, 2014 7:16:04 GMT
the main problem I found with freehand machine stitching is staying awake!!! it's a very meditative process and I found my eyes drooping :-)
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Post by MTRuth on Mar 6, 2014 17:16:59 GMT
Ah - sun dyeing. I have done that as well. Fun!
Free motion machine stitching takes some practice but you do have control when you've practiced. It's like anything else, the more you do, the better you are and the more in control you feel.
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 6, 2014 17:47:26 GMT
Here's a dumb question. If you don't put the foot down why do you need a foot at all?
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Post by MTRuth on Mar 6, 2014 20:29:43 GMT
When you have a darning foot, you do put the foot down. It has a spring and goes up and down as you sew.
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Post by Pandagirl on Mar 6, 2014 21:03:00 GMT
You do need to put the feed dogs down, right?
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Post by lyn on Mar 6, 2014 21:04:15 GMT
Hello Ann - even if you sew with no presser foot attached, you still need to have the presser foot lever in the down position. Maybe it's not the same with every sewing machine, but usually the stitches will not form properly if you have the presser foot lever up and you get thread spaghetti.
Hello Marilyn - yes, feed dogs down. If the feed dogs are up they grip the back of the felt as it passes under the presser foot so that you can't swivel it around freely.
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Post by Pandagirl on Mar 6, 2014 21:05:19 GMT
Thanks Lyn!
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Post by Shepherdess on Mar 6, 2014 22:05:42 GMT
The free motion foot I have goes to the halfway down position.
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Post by lyn on Mar 6, 2014 22:20:19 GMT
Ann - has your free motion foot got a spring in it? If it has, it may be siezed up so it may need a drop of sewing machine oil and some 'persuasion' i.e. pushing both ends of the foot together and apart several times.
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Post by MTRuth on Mar 6, 2014 22:21:19 GMT
Mine does that when I put the foot down - it doesn't touch the fabric like a regular foot would. But it goes up and down as you sew and does touch down (depending on fabric thickness) at some point. Do you have a photo of it?
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