Serger Feet

Serger Feet

Veronica admits she has a foot fetish.... for her serger feet.  Wednesday evening the Sewphisticuts met at Hobby Lobby to learn about several types of serger feet and their uses.

Veronica shows how to set up the beading foot.

Serger feet for Baby Lock machine

On her Baby Lock serger, Veronica showed the group how to attach beaded or lace trim, insert piping, put in a zipper, attach elastic and form a ruffle.  The beading foot has a groove along the top for the trim to rest in as it feeds through the machine, keeping the trim aligned for the stitches to form over and around the beads.  The piping foot, by contrast, has its groove underneath the foot, holding the piping in place between two layers of fabric that are fed through the machine.

Pearl bead trim being attached to sparkly tulle

Piping attached by serger

Elastic serged onto a knit fabric

The varied functions were impressive, as most of us only think of using our sergers for clean-finishing edges or sewing seams in knits.  We came away from the demonstration feeling inspired to push our serger sewing to a higher level.

At the more general part of the meeting we learned that some neighboring chapters (Albany and Connecticut) are doing some interesting programs on April 27th.  Check the chapter newsletters on the ASG web site for details.  Also in April is the Sewing Expo in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Hotels in that area are booked-up, indicating a healthy turn-out for the Expo.

Recycled Jeans Bag

What can you do that would make you feel good and help the world?

Join us for our Jean Bag Making Workshop on March 16th!

Turn that favorite (or maybe not so favorite) old pair of jeans into a fantastic bag!  And don't worry if you don't have a pair, Terry can make a kit for $15.  Having a new bag and giving those jeans  a new life, makes for a real sense of satisfaction, right?

Workshop will be at Hobby Lobby in Poughkeepsie. Registration Fee includes the pattern we will be using. 

All of the details and the registration form are attached. If purchasing a kit, please add that to the registration fee.  Supply List will be sent with confirmation of registration.

You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out....

The Sewphisticuts weren't doing the Hokey-Pokey the other night, but there were many feet being "put in" as attendees compared the many sewing machine feet they all had.  From Singer Featherweight to Viking embroidery machines, we had a collection of old and new machines, which gave considerable variety of feet to look at and try.  Pat had just two feet with her newly adopted machine, while Judy had.....lots!

Some of the feet for Judy's Bernina

As we compared notes (and feet), we found that we all had that utility foot that pretty much stays on the machine all the time.  Beyond that, of course, was the zipper foot, button-hole foot or attachment, and the single-hole foot for sewing very lightweight fabrics such as sheers.  Some of us had edge-stitchers and hem-rollers, rufflers and darning (free-motion) feet.  And several of us had feet that mystified us - what they were for or how to make them work.  We saw firsthand how little standardization there is for machine feet - every brand puts its own twist on the foot design.  No two zipper feet were the same across all our varied machines.  Sadly, this is what makes it almost impossible to hold a generic class about using machine feet.  But by pooling our knowledge, we figured out a few feet and learned how to get full use out of some of those funny little attachments that came with our machines.


Judy helped Peggy figure out the various settings for the ruffler foot which can be a bit daunting.   Some trial and error is needed to find the correct balance for your fabric and the look you want.

Peggy learned how to use her ruffler foot

The gathering/smocking foot results

As we experimented with the different feet and evaluated results, we also discussed potential uses.  Once you know you can easily make ruffles or join two finished edges with a decorative stitch, don't you go looking for a project to use that skill?  Perhaps that will be a challenge for a future meeting!

Linda tried out a foot to join two edges.

The interesting result

Next month's meeting is scheduled for March 13th:  the topic is  "What can a serger do besides an Overlock stitch?"  Our April 10th meeting will be about proper ironing techniques.

HEART FELT SEW-IN Held February 2

The February 2^nd date for our Heart Felt Sew-in turned out to be a perfect choice for our annual winter sew-in!  Based on the current weather forecast, choosing this weekend (2/9) would have made the gathering impossible.

A fantastic turnout of 27 eager sewers, reflected a representation from all of our Neighborhood Groups.  Everyone brought a snack to share, and many new acquaintances were made.  Some members worked  on their own projects, while others used this time to do some charity sewing. We had a raffle for a Craft Caddy Ott Lite, which was won by Shirley McCaffery.  

As part of our afternoon activities, we featured a "Jelly Roll Race". The “race” takes 40 2.5" jelly roll strips, sewn together into one long strip and then, folding and sewing the strips 5 times, creates a quilt top. Mary Stiegler was the race winner with a time of 1 hour 8 minutes to complete her quilt top. These tops will be finished by members of Charity Chics Neighborhood Group and donated to local community service agencies. If you would like to help in this effort, contact Mary DuBois for more info me21dubois@aol.com.

If you need more information to complete your own Jelly Roll quilt top, check out this YouTube video http://youtu.be/2bEJLnaZQOU

Our next planned Sew-in will be the Christmas in July on Saturday July 13^th. In the mean time you can enjoy sewing with other Chapter members on the 1^st and 4^th Thursday from 9 am to 2:30 pm at the Fishkill Town Hall.