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I've never been much of a seamstress, but I like the look of sewing on cards so I bought a Janome Sew Mini. It works well, but I'm having trouble keeping my stitching straight so my cards look really sloppy.
I know this is probably a dumb questions, but is there a trick to sewing a straight line or does it just take practice?
Here is a great little blog post about How to Sew a Straight Line. She tells you some tips, and then there is a short video of her daughter learning how to sew a straight line. Hope it helps you.
most sewing stores, also, have a disappearing ink pen, to draw that straight line first, and no worry, ink disappears. Look in notions of fabric stores, if interested.
__________________ Carolyn
my avatar: (such desparation), Dear God, if you can't make me thin; make my
friends fat"
I usually put a strip of masking tape down and then mark out the measurements from the needle hole (1/2", 5/8", 1", etc) if it doesn't come with a seam guide.
I think the speed thing is crucial, too - if you look at the speed the daughter in that video is doing, it's quite slow but it's also nice and steady. Practise keeping a steady pressure on the foot control and develop a feel for how hard to press down for the speed you want to go at.
It does get easier the more you do it and you could practise without wasting anything. Don't thread up your machine and then do a few lines on some scrap paper (three or four layers of copy paper will go through just fine and are roughly the same as a couple of layers of cardstock). You'll get a row of little perforations - just hold a ruler against them if you feel you can't see how straight it is without the thread.
The other thing I like to do is go deliberately wonky with my stitched lines! Especially if you do two or three and let them overlap, it can look really effective (sample attached was done with metallic silver thread)
I really think it's the Janome Sew Mini. I have one. I was getting very frustrated with not able to keep a straight line, etc. And yep, I think it make my card looks sloppy. So my hubby said to invest in a nice sewing machine that can do variable speed, and it did the trick. My stitches on cards are A LOT straighter now, but I still need a little more practice!
I don't sew on cards but i have done a fair amount of sewing garments.
People make the mistake of watching the "needle " when they sew.
Instead watch the right edge of the pressure foot. Keep the edge of the pressure foot the same distance from the edge and the needle will take care of itself. .
If you guide the right side of the pressure foot against the edge of the paper your sewing will be straight.
Sewing a straight line
