Sewing crêpe, satin and peach fabrics, or You vs. the Pucker Demon

Crêpe, satin and peach fabrics come in several types and fibres, but they always remain difficult fabrics to sew. In particular, most machines have trouble sewing a straight seam along the length of the material - it puckers. Yes, it means the tension is too high, but no, it is not actually too high, and…

Felled rolled hem that lies flat

Summer dresses often have wide skirts, so the hems are curved. Yet they also often have rolled hems that don't roll nicely on curves, they get all wrinkled up. I found that a two-step hem works better and lies flat, and I'm using the felling foot again to make it. See my previous post on…

False French seams for fine fabrics

Ah, summer! Hot weather means ice cream, lightweight fabrics and frequent washes. In sewing terms it means that the seams must be strong enough not to unravel in all those washes, which is easier said than done because lightweight fabrics are often loosely woven too, so they fray and disintegrate easily. But we don't want…

A neat plain opening

In many situations you have to make a plain opening by just making a cut in the fabric. Think for example of openings at the bottom of a sleeve or at the front of a neckline. If you are making a thin blouse, you don't necessarily want a placket there. How do you finish an…

The most amazing foot

This isn't an ordinary left-sided foot. This is a zig-zag left-sided foot. I found it in a job lot of bits and bobs from "a treadle sewing machine" - like this is a make or something! So I have no idea who made it. Here it is next to a regular left-sided foot: This is…

Pfaff 230 Automatic

This is one of the great classics from 1955: Pfaff 230 Automatic, not to be confused with Pfaff 230 that didn't have any fancy stitches. This machine has signature Pfaff forward-facing vertical rotary hook with internal belt transmission. Zig-zag is done with a swing needle mechanism and all the fancy stuff is in the arm.…