Sewing Straight Seams

This week, I had a customer ask me how I keep my seams so straight. I didn't really have a great answer, I just layer the fabric and feed it to the sewing machine! I guess I've been doing it so long, I don't really know what makes a great straight seam. All I could think of was accurate cutting and careful ironing. Then, magically, I got another magazine in the mail and it had a short article about making straight seams!

It "seems" there are many techniques I use when I'm quilting that I don't even realize. One of the best points in the article talked about watching your fabric an inch or so ahead of the needle, instead of watching the needle itself. While this comes naturally to me now, it doesn't come so easily to beginning quilters and sewers. Like the article said, if you're watching your needle, it's already too late to fix the fabric! "Aha!" Of course it makes perfect sense when you think of it that way. While piecing today, I realize that I have already been doing this without even realizing it. I watch my fabric ahead of the needle, and adjust it before it gets sewn together.

Another great tip I picked up from this article is that quilting needles aren't just for the actual quilting. They work great for piecing as well. A "quilting" needle is a thinner, finer needle than just a universal needle. Since the needle is smaller, there is less pull on the fabric and less distortion as you are sewing the seam. In the past, I have used these needles when quilting on my sewing machine, but I always thought they were sort of a bother. Realy, who has time to change the needle back and forth between quilting and piecing?? However, I think now I will stick with the quilting needle for almost all my piecing as well as quilting. (Except for patching those logger pants, which I hate and avoid like the plague anyways!) It really does make a big difference and a nicer seam, especially when I was sewing those 1" strips together in my latest table topper project!