Turning Around Vs. Backingup

[SooperJake]

Is it perfectly acceptable to lock your stitches by turning around vs. using the reverse lever? My reverse stitches look a little bit longer than the forward stitches.

[Dwight]

Works for me, . . . it's just easier sometimes for me to do the backup routine, . . . rather than fight with a 54 inch long, 3 inch wide belt or a flap over holster for a 44 hog leg.

My stitches look the same either way, . . . doubled.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Wizcrafts]

On the machines that have a reverse lever, I often feather the position of the reverse lever as I watch the position of the needle, as it descends. This works best on the big 441, Adler, or Pfaff machines, which have a single lever for both direction and stitch length. Once I find the correct position in reverse, I sew a couple of stitches backwards.

On the non-reversing machines, I either lift the feet and pull the material towards me about two stitches, then stitch through them to lock the stitches, or when convenient, I do the Poor Man's Reverse, spinning the work 180 degrees. Note, that if you are using a single toe presser foot, turning the work 180 may cause it to fall off the material, interfering with the feed mechanism. If that is going to happen, I use the lift, pull back and stitch forward technique. This is how I learned to sew on an industrial machine (Singer 31-15 or 96k40?), in the 1960s, in my Dad's tailor shop.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Wizcrafts

[Jimbob]

That pulling it back for two stitches and then sewing over it sounds good...never done that...hmmm never to old to learn...in my older days always turned the item 180 and sewn over the end point....now I have two fancy Adlers with reverse ( love 'em ) and just do the reverse lever...cool. But all described ways should work the same way...>> locking the stitch!

Jimbob