Precise and Professional

After I had solved the problem of the mangled embroidery, it was time to do my piping to trim the panel. I cut lots of bias strips, folded them lengthwise and pressed, did an approximate measurement of the needed piping, and was ready to start stitching. Hmmm. What foot?

First I tried the piping foot, # 38. The uneven sides just didn't give the support I needed next to the gimp. I went to foot #12, the Cordonnet foot. That didn't work at all. All right, I would go back to the way I did it when I had my old Singer...I used my zipper foot. It stitched just fine, but as I looked at it, I thought about my wonderful Bernina, and how "just fine" really wasn't what I wanted.

Then I decided to go to the book that was
recommended by Carol Harris, Precise and Professional, by Lyn Weeks. It is wonderful. She recommended a buttonhole foot, which is #3C for my bernina. It has a groove that holds the gimp in place, and then you can bump your needle over to the left and it stitches right next to your cord. Precise and Professional, for sure! I loved it. Then after I had made enough piping, I trimmed it to a perfect 1/4 inch with the Groovin Piping Trimming Tool.

After your piping is trimmed neatly to a quarter inch, it is easy to pin it to the panel and stitch around. I went back to the book one more time to see how she recommended turning corners. Easy. I just stitched up to the corner, clipped twice right up to the seam line with my sharpest little snips, and slowly turned the corner.

NO to the old zipper foot.

















I love the way the corners turned so smoothly, all 4 of them with no puckers.

Buttonholes and buttons were the last little task, and again with the right feet, #3A and # 18, this was quickly done.

And I guess it all goes back to what my father in law used to say. When I was expressing some remorse at what I had spent on my machine, and he knew what joy it brought me, he looked me straight in the eye and said..." Deb, ya gotta have the right tools."
Grandaddy was soooo right!