Last week we covered two feet, but this week we are going to slow it down and split the block into two parts, starting with the adjustable hem foot.

This is another foot that takes some time to get used to. The trick to it is teaching yourself how to feed the fabric in continuously without losing the roll on the edge. If you turn this foot upside down you see a teensy tiny hook. That’s what creates the clean inside roll, and what you need to learn to keep your fabric nestled into. It’s similar to the narrow hem foot from week 4, but you need to keep the depth of the hem even as well as the rolled edge.

Start with your fabric right side down, and wrap it through the foot around the front curved edge but below the ruler leaf. Go until it’s snug against the inner guide, and slide it back and forth just a little until you see the rolled hem start. Be very gentle with your fabric, as you don’t want to fray the edge. Then just anchor stitch, and evenly feed your fabric through while sewing. If you are sewing across a seam, make sure it is pressed open and even.

This was not quite as challenging as the edge foot, but far more frustrating because it fails the same way every time. While the edge stitcher can go wrong in many ways, the adjustable hem just loses its roll and ruins your day. Don’t give up though, it just takes practice! The technique will get easier, and once you are comfortable with it you can easily sew hems on pants, waist bands, sleeves… and a beautiful finished ruffle edge.

There’s three more feet to go in this quilt: the ruffler, pin tucker, and the binder. Please like Blocking Clever on Facebook https://facebook.com/BlockingClever and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blockingclever/ to make sure you don’t miss a post. There’s more patterns, projects, and exciting things to come!

Cut:

• (4) 4.5 x 40.5 grey #5 (darkest grey before the black border)
• (6) 2.5 x 44 teal

Cut and sew teal strips together as with gathers in week 4. Use adjustable hem foot set on 4 to create a finished edge along one side of strip.

To be continued next week, with the ruffler.