The Upholstery Forum

It is starting to seem like the seam allowance is not trimmed but is just a 1/16” of an inch. I have run into another just like it.


When I try to sew with a similar seam allowance I run into the lower material rolling and the stitch gets closer to the edge on the lower piece.



Anyone know how they are sewing these narrow seam allowance. These have both been on European car with 1/4” topstitch. They are sewing the topstitch into a piece of fabric and not into the seam allowance.

Is there a reason you need to do it that way? I would just add seam allowance and trim it off after sewing if needed.

@John It seems possible to do and if I can do it it is something to add to my toolbox. I found I can cheat by flipping it over and sewing from both sides.



Based on the fact that my machine was originally used in the manufacture of gloves, the actual problem may be that I am using the wrong feed dogs, but unfortunately, I can no longer buy the assortment of feed dog that we originally designed for my machine correspond to the needle size.

@JimmieJoe , tedious getting that done and I think the original was probably trimmed off seam allowance.

@BigRig I accidentally found the correct feed dog, so I am ordering it to see if it makes a difference. Sewing the 1/16" is not an issue, but I think the material is actually fall into the hole in the feed dog. The feed dog is sized for a 24 needle and I am using an 18. There is literally no support under the material at the feed dog. to make matters worse it is a slotted hole for a 24 needle. A feed dog with a correctly sized hole, 46 or 50, should give the material some support which may be all that is needed.

@JimmieJoe , my Juki is just like that too the material sinks into the feed dogs. I love my old equipment can you post pictures of your machines? You did a great job sewing that nicely.

@BigRig There are other pictures in your other thread on running stitches that might help you.

I have an assortment of inner and outer presser feet, but do not currently have any other throat plates and feed dogs. However, I found some throat plates and feed dogs for my machine. I will find out if that fixes my problems on e they arrive.

After matching the needle and the feed dog, sewing a 1/16” seam allowance is not an issue.


Now the material does not fall in the hole and roll to one side resulting in the needle penetration being at an angle instead of perpendicular.

@BigRig You may want to change your feed dog.

I also do embroidery and have used "tear away" embroidery stabilizer to support light weight fabric when sewing it. Buy a roll of it on Amazon and cut strips to put under your work, then just tear it away. You may have to double it up but it's a cheap material and you only need 1" strip under the seam.

I meant to post a picture of the new feed dog showing the needle vs needle hole in the feed dog, but I got distracted and forgot.
Using a feed dog with a corresponding needle hole in the feed dog gives the material more support. It is possible that this was also part of my puckering problem on soft materials, however I have not confirmed that yet.

@BigRig

Having the needle hole the "right size" does help the machine not drag the fabric down into the hole. I bought a new plate for my TSC411 clone and it helped a lot.