This is a sewing tutorial on how to use different seam guides that help to sew straight and save lots of time and frustration: Seam guide attachment from the sewing machine accessories, Magnetic seam guide, 6-in-1 Stick’nStitch Guide with Nancy Zieman, Laser seam guide, Diy seam guides. Here is a link to my blog post "Seam guide tutorial – all you need to know about how to sew a straight line and keep seam allowances equal"
The video and the blog post are not the same - you will find much more info in my blog post. Also, if you would like to buy a seam guide check out the blog post - I have affiliate links there.
In this sewing tutorial I want to talk about a seam guide - why you need one (or a few actually), how to use it correctly, what types of seam guides exist, how you can make it yourself and where to buy the best.
There are many different types of seam guides. Some of them you even got together with your sewing machine. And others are pretty cheap to buy.
In my sewing machine manual this seam guide is called Quilting bar but I guess there are other names for this tool. I was surprised to find this small metal bar among my sewing machine accessories and had to read the manual to see how to use this thing. But it was a long time ago and since then I have been using it quite often.
It’s really easy to install.
Find a small opening on the foot holder. Insert the quilting bar into the opening and slide the bar to set the width of the seams you want.
My seam guide attachment from the sewing machine accessories extends to a maximum width of around 2″. But there are longer seam guides available.
For this seam guide to work you will need to find some stitching lines that are already on the fabric. Or you can use the edge of the fabric as the first line.
Sew while tracing the previous seam with the quilting bar.
You can see that the stitching lines are perfectly straight and the seam allowances are equal.
This seam guide is really good for sewing decorative stitches that don’t run wavy or crooked.
Magnetic seam guide
The magnetic SEAM guide is designed for smooth stitching at different distances from the fabric edge.
With this device, it’s easy to control the width of the allowances when sewing on a sewing machine.This is how it looks, there is a strong magnet under the metal case.
Let me show you how to use it.
Place the magnetic sewing guide directly to the throat plate parallel to the presser foot, at a distance that depends on the desired width of seam allowances. For this, you can use markings on a sewing machine.
set the fabric so that the edge adjoins the magnetic guide
During sewing, run the edge of the fabric exactly along the magnetic seam guide and you can sew without fear that your stitching lines are not going to be straight.
As a result the seam allowances are perfectly even.
The magnet is very strong, it does not move when sewing even with hard heavyweight fabrics and adjusts to any position on the metal throat plate of a sewing machine.
The big plus of this seam allowance guide is that it can be used with almost ANY presser foot. For example, I use walking foot for quilts very often and the seam guide is perfect for sewing straight with the walking foot. I can topstitch leather using special presser feet for leather.
Some sources say that it’s not recommended for computerized sewing machines because it’s magnetic. But I can assure you it can be used with modern computerized sewing machines ONLY if you place it correctly - you can put it ONLY on the metal throat plate of a sewing machine but don’t put it anywhere else - then the magnet can destroy a computer inside the machine. But there is no computer under the throat plate so this place is safe.
6-in-1 Stick’nStitch Guide with Nancy Zieman
If you don’t want to try the magnetic seam guide then you can buy plastic one.
That’s how it looks like. It has two plastic pieces and a small square ruler with grid lines and small holes for a needle.
Let’s see how to use this seam guide.
For example, I need to make my seam allowances 5/8 in or 1.5 cm.
Place the ruler on the throat plate and align the needle with the desired grid line.
Insert the needle into the hole and stick plastic pieces along the ruler edge. For this you will need to peel the film from the bottom of each guide to uncover the sticky side. Also, before placing the guides wipe away dust from the machine.
During sewing, run the edge of the fabric exactly along the seam guide and you will get perfectly straight stitching line.
But I don’t need to use the template always. If I need to make very wide seam allowances I just put the seam guide at the distance I want. But these seam guides have to be placed exactly parallel to the presser foot. So I make some marks on my sewing machine for easy placement.
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