On Anna's recommendation, I bought a copy of The Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook, which turns out to have been the book I've been looking for all my sewing life. Did your sewing machine come with a box of tiny, weirdly-shaped feet? Then you need this book. There are clear instructions for guides, hemmers, rufflers, binding and cording feet, sequin feet, walking feet … and on and on. If you can screw, bolt, strap or clip it to your sewing machine, I think this book covers it.
My favorite guideline for judging sewing books is by whether or not they make you want to sew — and this book makes me really, really want to sew. I think the hemming foot instructions alone are going to make my sewing life better.
It's also kindled in me a deep and painful longing for something called a "bias cutting guide" — a doodad that clips to the end of your scissors so that you can cut bias tape without all that painful marking. I wants one, I do. Couldn't turn one up on eBay, though; does anyone have any leads?
(Also, if you buy it from the link above, the author, Charlene Phillips, will sign your copy. That's always nice!)
Labels: books, reviews, sewing_machines, sewing_tools
A Dress A Day 
Pssst. I think youre looking for this: Bias Gauge
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And this blog post has a link for a bias gauge and also how to make one, if you are the spit-and- baling-wire type: http://www.random-charm.com/?p=747Amy
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Bias cutting guide made me groan!
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Looks like a great book! Thanks for the review.
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That book looks like a must have! Thanks!I have one of those bias gauges, I like it but it has two problems – first, it doesnt fit well on a lot of scissors, and second, at the widest setting it still only makes narrow strips (1 is the max on mine, I think, so 1/4 after double folding). I love the DIY one at that link – it would be great to have a set in all your favorite widths!!
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They show up fairly often in sets of vintage sewing machine attachments. You would not only get the gauge, but other feet you can use as well!
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For strip cutting, try a slotted ruler like http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat3546PRODID=prd2856 and a rotary cutter. A while ago I cut a jelly roll of strips (light contrast against a jelly roll for a flying geese quilt) in about 15 minutes.
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So THATs what that thing is! Id better read this book so I can identify all this sewing stuff that Ive inherited from different people in my life. There might be things I need and already have.
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I have a (plastic) cutting pad with bias marking on it. Line up a ruler with the width I want run a rotary cutter along it — works like a charm.Beth
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Actually I think I have 2 of these. They work well on older styles of scissors but dont fit well on my Fiskars.I do better cutting bias tape using my rotary cutter but its a nifty doo-dad to have.
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The title of the book gave me the willies–I could only think of my moms 1947 Singer with the giy-normous buttonhole attachment and how many frustrating hours she spent trying to get it to work, not to mention the ruffler . But when you say it gives instructions–now youre talkin.
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My sister have been in sewing training. So i think im quite familiar with these. ;DSoloTravel and LivingJob Hunter
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Re: Bias Tape. The best instructions Ive found for making continuous bias tape are the Dread Pirate Rodgers Continuous Bias web page:http://pir8.freeservers.com/quilting/CBT/Shelly Rodgers explains it all and even provides the math formulas to figure out how much bias tape you can get from a given sized piece of fabric; I used her formulas in a spreadsheet.CMC
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Hemming foot. My mother had a portable sewing machine with a hemming foot when I was in high school. I loved it so much I didnt want to leave home for college until Mom said I could take the sewing machine with me. Imagine my disappointment when I bought my first machine and it did not have a hemming foot! Ive never quite go over it.
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Great book recommendation, sewing machines have always confused me 😉 I think this book will help, thanks for posting!
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i borrowed the book from the library. I wish the description stated how it was centered on old machine feet instead of modern machines.
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If you like your rotary cutter over your scissors, Olfa makes a rotary cutter guide arm that does the same thing(its the last thing on the page)http://www.olfadeals.com/rotary-cutters.html
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http://www.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=2869679One for sale
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