Singer 457 - Free-Alotion Stitching

FREE-MOTION STITCHING
In free-motion stitching, you sew
without a presser foot and instead
control
fabric movement
(and hence
stitch length) yourself, by means of
an embroidery hoop . Either a
straight or a zig-zag stitch setting
can be used . Because youcan move
the hoop in any direction-forward
or backward, from side to side, and
evendiagonally-free-motion stitch-
ing is
extremely
useful
for intricate
embroidery designs
.
On the other
hand, it is equally useful for that
most humdrum but necessary task,
darning .
If you are embroidering, you can
vary the length of stitches simply
by moving the hoop faster or slower
.
The faster you move it, the more
open the stitches will be . A slow
hoop movement will produce closely
packed stitches . You can also vary
the width of the stitches, from a
hairline to the full width of what-
ever stitch
width setting you have
chosen, simply by moving
the
hoop
.
48
Free-Motion Stitching
If you move it sideways and stitch
in a horizontal line, you will get a
hairline
;
if you move it forward
or backward and stitch
in a vertical
line, you will get full stitch width .
Thus youcan produce a ribbon-like
effect in script lettering . This takes
practice, butyou can achieve some
lovely effects that look much like
hand embroidery . See the next page
for
specific
directions .
For darning,
the
embroidery hoop
used in free-motion stitching en-
ables you to hold the fabric taut-
a real advantage when your fabric
is lightweight or soft and thus is
likel . t o pucker . See page 52 for
directions .
Preparing for Free-Motion Stitching
1 . Get an embroidery hoop large
enough to encompass the entire
design or area to be darned .
2 . Remove presser foot .
3 . Set feed regulating knob at D .
4 . Set stitch length selector at FINE .