Do you find yourself using only your straight stitch on your machine? Elizabeth Stumbo shows you 5 useful stitches for sewing and quilting that you may not have tried!
American Patchwork & Quilting Editors May 02, 2019
Transcript:
Hi! I'm Elizabeth and this video is brought to you by Baby Lock. Are you stuck in a straight stitch rut? Today, I'm going to share with you 5 useful Stitches for quilting and sewing.
Our first stitch is a reinforcement stitch, or stay stitch. It's this little open circle button on the Crescendo. This stitch will sew three stitches in the same spot to lock your seam (as opposed to a backstitch which adds an additional line of thread). For character or decorative stitches when you press this button, the design will end with a full stitch instead of in the middle of your design.
The next helpful stitch is a basting stitch. This is stitch number 1-08 on the Crescendo. It's automatically set up for an extra long stitch, which is meant to hold pieces in place before sewing them finally. And a basting stitch is the perfect way to secure the edge of an unfinished quilt top. This is especially useful if your top will sit unfinished for a while. And once you're ready to quilt, the basting stitch will ensure those seams close to the edge don't come apart. The stitches are easy to rip out if they end up showing in your finished piece. This stitch is also great for creating ruffles because the long stitches are easy to pull to create the gather.
Another workhorse stitch is the zig zag stitch. This is a versatile stitch that is great for applique, but also helps keep raw edges from fraying if you don't have a serger. On some home décor projects especially, we recommend stitching a zig zag stitch between the raw edges and your seam to give your project an extra layer of security.
And don't forget about the 3-step zig zag, or elastic stitch! This zig zag takes extra stitches to create a zig zag stitch that will still stretch with the fabric and prevents tunneling. Perfect for sewing with knits and other stretchy fabrics. We like to use it to join batting pieces too!
And finally, when quilting, consider the serpentine stitch. This is one of my favorites because it's just as easy as straight stitching, but gives a little more movement and texture to your finished quilt. Try shortening or lengthening the stitch for a different look!
And one more I couldn't resist, is this stitch that gives the look of hand stitching. The stitch goes back over every other stitch to provide a hand stitched look. It really makes the stitching stand out!
Ok, so those were some of my favorite stitches, but there are so many more great options on this Baby Lock Crescendo that I had to leave out! So break out of your straight stitch rut and try some of these stitches on your next project.
