This was a challenge.
And not necessarily a fun sort of challenge, more of an uggggg I’m going to have to do this by hand challenge.
Good news is that I figured it out without resorting to hand-sewing.
So, the first thing I did was pin the lightning bolt down. That part was easy.
But then, how to get the stupid lightning bolt to stay where it is and not stretch or bulge or go all over the place? I pulled out my handy dandy scrap of fabric (I’m feeling very Blues Clues this morning), and gave it a test run, adding in a zig zag stitch and just using my normal foot. It worked with the side seams for the dress, didn’t it?
Well, that gold stuff, as it turns out, is kind of sticky so that didn’t work at all. It stretched, it bubbled, and just no.
So then, I started looking up videos and found one that said that I could solve the problem by placing tissue paper under my applique. Under I could do. I needed to see on top so that I could make sure my seam was placed correctly on the applique.
It didn’t work. Granted, the feed dogs weren’t getting stuck on the fabric, the top of the gold was and I needed to be able to see that. Also this:
(Terrible photo, I know.) And in the end, neither one of my seams looked remotely nice.
So I tried the one thing that I probably should have done to begin with: I got out my walking foot.
For those of you who don’t know a thing about sewing machines, walking feet are really freaking adorable. They’re normally used in quilting when you’re sewing a kajillion layers plus batting all at the same time. In action they act like teeny tiny kangaroos. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone recommending to use one for clothing before; but in this case, you should definitely give it a shot.
Why? Instead of the foot sliding over your fabric and causing it to bunch up, the walking foot hops up and down as it moves. In other words, no bunches.
It worked amazingly, and the only excuse I have for trying toilet paper before walking down a flight of stairs to go get it is that I was feeling very lazy and the bathroom was much closer than downstairs.
While I realize that not everyone in the world is going to want to invest in a new sewing machine foot just for one project, I’d highly recommend having one of these little guys around. They’re surprisingly useful at the oddest of times, and they’re really not too expensive. I believe the one for my Husqvarna only cost $25 and it’s saved me so many headaches. Plus–did I mention–that I think they’re cute?
So that’s my solution. I’m sure there are other ways to go about it, but for me this solved the problem in an easy way that actually looks nice and I didn’t have to rip out any of my seams (which wouldn’t be fun on this fabric–there would be so many holes!).
Next up: piping!
Other posts in this series:
Ms. Marvel: Working with 4-Way Stretch for the First Time
