Talk Back Thursday

Thank you so much to CarlaF, Patsijean, Webfrau, Stitchywitch, Gwen, Sarah, Mary, Lori, Julia, Rosa, GMarie, Shannon, Cindy, Elaina and JustGail for talking back to my confession last Friday! I admitted that I sew better (more straight and even) seams when the seam allowance is to my right, as compared to when the seam allowance is to my left.


I was braced for a sound chastising, and found myself relieved to escape relatively unscathed. ;)


It is true that 4 people responded that they can sew equally well on either side. And CarlaF and Gwen gave me some good advice - practice and go slowly!


But 9 people commented that they, too, prefer to sew with the seam on the right. Not only that, but they had a couple of very good justifications. The main one, made by 6 people, is that anytime you are sewing with any size-able amount of fabric, if the seam allowance is on the left, the bulk of the fabric is likely to get bunched up on the right, between the needle and the machine body.


Cindy made a nice analogy with carpentry and using a table saw - you need to have the fabric move through smoothly and all at the same speed - you won't get a quality seam if you have bits and pieces of the fabric tugging ahead or being held back.


And 2 others pointed out that some machines only have the measurements marked on the right side...


I wondered if my preference had anything to do with being right handed, and Elaina indirectly supported this argument from the opposite direction. Being left handed, when she first started to sew it was easier for her to put the seam allowance on the left. Now, however, she can sew equally well on either side.


Two other interesting comments - Cindy pointed out that her right side preference only holds for sewing seams. When it comes to edge stitching, for example, she can work equally well on either side.


And JustGail pointed out something I had heard in conjunction with driving, sketching and cutting, but never with sewing - her work benefits from looking further ahead, rather than at the section of road (or paper or fabric) directly in front of her. I'm going to keep that in mind and give it a try the next time I sit down at my machine. :)


Thanks again to everyone who took the time and trouble to comment! You make even the tiniest details of sewing very interesting! :)