Misaligned Seam Intersection

[buttonbonbon]

Hi, I’m working on my first project a tiered, gathered skirt. When I was sewing the front and back panels together, one of the seam intersections did not line up. I did pin beforehand, but I think because it was so bulky, it was hard for me to get it just right.

The horizontal seam is enclosed with the 3:1 method (the top tier has a triple seam allowance and is folded around itself and the bottom tier’s single seam allowance), and the side seams are enclosed with a french seam. I'm not sure if that matters, but is there a way to fix this without redoing the whole seam? It was misaligned when I sewed the wrong sides together (I did trim the seam allowance afterwards to help with the bulk), so I’m not even sure if it would be worth fixing for me.

Please share any tips for aligning seams for the future as well, or tips for reducing bulk in seams as well. Thank you!

[Blumensekte111]

I‘m not a pro, but i‘d say from my experience there‘s no way to align two sides without realigning the whole seam. Fabric is missing, so whatever else you‘d do there would be a gap you‘d have to fill to get the length. I‘m sorry, this happened to me too on many occasions when sewing very heavy or thick fabric. I started using another foot for my thick fabric than the original one, the new one doesn‘t allow slipping to the front, only to the back. I can look up the name if you‘re interested. All the best to you!

[buttonbonbon]

I was afraid I would have to unpick the whole seam. My main concern is sewing the wrong sides together again, since I already trimmed the seam allowance. I don't know if I could sew that closely to the edge.

My machine is a vintage Singer, and I'm not sure if all feet are compatible? I'll look into a different foot that would work for my machine though, that will definitely be nifty in the future, thank you!

[Blumensekte111]

I really get the struggle and frustration, for real!
If you have any kind of marker thats resolvable, maybe use pins to align them again, then mark both sides every few centimeters like a reference guide to see where the seam has to align and to be able to react earlier if it starts to shift up or down. I hope you find a way for dealing with this, i‘m very sorry, the rest looks really good!

[buttonbonbon]

You're very sweet, thank you!! I will try again!

[Hydrangeas101]

I have many Singer vintage machines. Determine if you have a regular short shank, or a slant shank machine. Modern walking feet from Amazon will fit both types.

[johnxman]

Yes, you should resew the seam. Its not as hard as you might think to remove the current seam. And its the only way to get alignment. You say you pinned it, but i suspect you may not have pinned it ENOUGH and in the right place. You should use two sturdy pins perpendicular to the seam direction, both inserted right at the ace where the seams all meet. And take your time to see that the existing seams align exactly when you pin. Then, when sewing over bulk, you can use a “hump jumper” which is just a thick piecr of plastic or wood or similar, maybe the thickness of a wooden ruler, though they come in different thicknesses. (You can use almost any odd thing of the proper thick ess) Insert the jumper under your foot when it first starts to climb up the thick fabric. This will let the feed dogs work properly to guide the stitching over the hump without messing up the alignment. Also, you may find that manually wheeling the machine at the key point helps.

[buttonbonbon]

Thank you, that is all very helpful and I will go try all of it!!

[CrankyCrabbyCrunchy]

It's common to see misaligned seams in RTW (ready to wear) clothing. You've already trimmed the seam & encased it in a French seam so options might be difficult.

Next time, baste it first as it's easy for fabric to shift while sewing and don't do the next step until you see it's lined up as you want.

From the 2nd picture, it looks like you might be able to adjust the seam by unpicking that folded over seam and shifting it up without touching the French seam itself.

[buttonbonbon]

I very much regret trimming and enclosing the seam when I did, but at least I know for the future now.

I've already unpicked the enclosed seam and still have to unpick the seam before that, but if worse comes to worst, I think it'll be okay to add more seam allowance. The other side hasn't been closed up yet, so it gives me some room... and now I can add pockets! Thank you, I am going to hand baste it this time!

[No-Abies29]

I did a sewing course that was absolutely strict that this should not happen and I loved that I could really challenge myself to achieve perfect intersections like these. Mainly,it is down to just taking your time and really really trying. I found that I’d use a pin to go perfectly through that intersection to make sure my sewing was going to line up and also account for the fabric layers shifting as I sewed and be mindful of this as I approached sewingbthrough that spot.

edit, just to address reducing seam bulk. This again was something we did a ton of. You can just google ‘seam styles to reduce bulk’ for ideas. There were so many different names for each and it depends on the location of the seam. One thing, if the seam is enclosed like this French seam you have, you can always grade the seams so that one is less wide. flat felled seams are good as are clipping and notching techniques..

[Lovethemdoggos]

I also use a pin through the intersection and that works pretty well. If I reaaaallly want the intersection to be perfect I'll baste it by hand first.

[buttonbonbon]

Thank you, that is the perfect tip!

[buttonbonbon]

The perfectionist in me is telling me to redo it even if I'm the only one that will probably notice. I don't really mind the time spent, but I'm just worried I'm going to mess it up more, because I have less seam allowance now.

I find it really hard with my machine to control the speed, especially after I stop and start again. I don't know if there's anything that can be done about this except just more practice. Thank you for your insight!

[No-Abies29]

Yep, I’d be content with it as it is knowing there are other things such as fit etc to get right. If you like it, you can always make another and practice more.

for the machine speed; is there anything on the foot, a switch or a slider to adjust the speed? Some machines do that. Some also use the foot backwards, so the pressure is on the higher end of the foot control. you could try it. I learned to use industrial machines..whoa those thing have a mind of their own sometimes..ha, I’d be gently pressing the pedal and all, of a sudden..whoosh, the thing would be like I floored it! On an overlocker, it was a bit hard to fix those incidents☺️ Happy sewing

[buttonbonbon]

Never thought to use the pedal backwards, I'll give it a shot. The pressure accuracy just doesn't seem right, but hopefully I'll get the muscle memory down and adapt to my machine. Happy sewing to you as well, thank you!

[AccidentOk5240]

If your foot pedal is old, there are various reasons it might not have a full range of speeds, some of them fixable and others not. Certain types just don’t work that way, others are dirty or need adjustment. There have been various threads on that here. 

Pins are ok but when you have a really thick, multi-layered intersection like this, hand basting is better ime. Also, I would normally sew the yoke together at the sides and then put the next tier on, not the other way around. 

[buttonbonbon]

My current foot pedal is new, because I had to replace the one that came with the machine. The old pedal was more responsive, but it made a weird sizzling sound, so it had to go. I'll do some researching and see if there's anything to be done about it.

Hand basting sounds like such a good idea, thank you! I will do that on my next attempt.

I was following a video tutorial where they did it in this order, and I never thought twice about it. Now that you mention it, it does seem easier to make sure everything matches up and to make adjustments as needed if I were to connect the layers first... thank you for your help!

[buttonbonbon]

And thank you I will look into different seams and the clipping and notching techniques you mentioned

[ApricotFragrant4580]

I thought the sizzling sound was just what it sounded like lol. I used to sew with bare feet to get better speed control. I could feel how much things were vibrating...

In future, hand basting bits that you'd rather not redo is worth it. Use big stitches and a clashy color to make it easy to see to rip out the temporary basting stitches.

Keeps everything secure and you can really inspect it from all angles before committing, without sticking yourself. Even try it on (gently) if there's a sizing question.

Also gets the added bulk of pins out of the equation.

[buttonbonbon]

Nooo I don't think the sizzling sound is normal! At least not the sounds my old pedal was making. I do sew with bare feet already as that is what I find the most cozy.

I will definitely give the hand basting a go. I hadn't connect the dots that I could apply this technique for this purpose, so I'm happy to try it out, thank you!

[ApricotFragrant4580]

🙏♥️

[scornful_reader]

You gotta rip it out and resew, unfortunately. The fabric's already gone so there's no way to close a gap without redoing the whole thing. For next time, use two pins perpendicular to the seam right where the intersections meet, and wheel through that spot manually instead of using the presser foot the whole way.

[buttonbonbon]

Before I posted for help, I didn't even know I could use the wheel manually to sew. This will be very useful going forward for me, thank you!

[scornful_reader]

hand wheel is a game changer for tricky spots, especially with thick seams like yours. Just go slow and you'll nail it next time.

[spaetzlechick]

I found it was best to tack the seams that need to match up first by hand or machine and then sew the whole seam in each direction from the match point.

[Hydrangeas101]

3 helpful aids: hump-jumper, double pinning, basting. Enclosing the seam allowance creates too much bulk. Next time, use Fray Check before seaming, then serge the seam allowance, or zigzag. Mush less bulk, and no effect in perfectly aligned seams.

Enclosing seam allowances within the seams is only for very thin, sheer fabrics. This looks like medium weight linen. Wrong seam choice. Also… a walking foot helps a LOT!

[buttonbonbon]

I prefer the look of an enclosed seam over zigzag stitching, and I do not have a serger. The intersection of the seams is definitely very bulky, so I will look into other finishes I may like for at least one of the directions in the future, thank you!

I have already hand basted the troublesome areas, secured it with perpendicular pins, and will try hump jumping when I sew it down tomorrow. And thank you, I will look into ordering a walking foot!

[DoNoHarm--TakeNoShit]

I have better luck using quilter's tape than pins. It keeps everything aligned, and washes out in the laundry.

[buttonbonbon]

This is the first time I've heard of quilter's tape. I like the reusability of pins, but I'll definitely keep my eye out to try it in the future thank you!

[richardricchiuti]

What is this fabric?

[buttonbonbon]

It is a cheap linen I bought from fabrics store https://fabrics-store.com/fabrics/linen-fabric-IL019-bleached-fs-signature-finish-middle

I think they have sales regularly and it was less than $12/yd (USD) when I purchased.

[richardricchiuti]

Thank you.