It's all about the accessories, I am talking feet for your sewing machine! They can be true time savers, once you learn how to use them!
Recently I bought a rolled hem foot, a ruffler foot and a piping foot. I consider all 3 a must have!
The rolled hem foot:
I am not going to lie, this one takes some practice to get just right, so get out your scraps and keep trying!
The way I finally got it to work best was to fold over the edge 2 times to start the hem. place under the presser foot and stitch 3-4 times to hold. Then keep the needle down, raise the foot, and feed your raw edge into the open front of the foot. Lower it back down and stitch slowly. 
Hold the edge the entire time slightly rolling it with your finger to help keep it feeding correctly. Like I said this part takes time, don't get discouraged!
Now you have a nice finished edge! Without burning your finger tips on the iron.
Now time to talk ruffles! If you like to pleat, ruffle, gather, you need a ruffling foot. About $29 bucks, but I had a 40% off coupon for Hancock.
I always serge my edge prior to ruffling to keep it neat.
Place your finished edge in the ruffler, set your stitch to 1, 6, or 12, that is the number of stitches between ruffles. I like sewing with the 6 and a 3.0 stitch length, again this will take a bit of playing with if you need specific size ruffles. There might be some math involved and I don't want to go down that road!
I find this one essential when making my skirty purse! A huge time saver
My next must have is the piping foot, this is so easy to use and it adds so much detail to what you are making! You will need small cord, I use some the size of shoelaces, but any size cording will do!
I cut a strip of fabric the length of the item I am trimming, and 1 1/4 inch wide. Cut the cord the same length.
Fold the cord in the middle of the fabric and place under piping foot. 
Sew the entire length of the fabric, backstiching to secure the ends. 
Place finished piping in between the layers of fabric. Matching up raw edges.
and you are done!! I started making piping with a zipper foot, but the piping foot works so much better, it made a huge difference, and was only about $8!
I hope that was helpful to some of you! What sewing machine accessories are a must have for you? I would love to know what else I might need!!
7 comments:
All three of those are definitely essentials. My mom told me about the rolled him foot after I pressed and sewed a set of 12 napkins; burning my fingers and destroying my ironing board cover in the process. Thanks for sharing the good hint about sewing machine accessories. Another great accessory I would suggest to have with you when sewing is a wooden press, it helps get those finger pressed lines nice a straight.
I have always wondered about those accessories!! They are so cool! Thanks for sharing their secrets!
Hugs
SueAnn
oh man I have SO much to learn about sewing. lol
I, too, love each of these though I still get frustrated with the rolled hem foot! It is a "must have", in my opinion, for all lightweight fabrics. The gathering/ruffle foot is by far the best and I have gone through 2 of them so far!
I need to get a ruffle foot! It's going on the to do list for this weekend! Thanks for sharing!
So much to learn!!! And so many sewing machine accessories, it starts to make my head spin!
Thanks for sharing these things! I've sewn for years without them and wondered about them, but have never just bought them! Thanks to your great sharing, I am headed out to get me some!!
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