The Ultimate Seam Guide just got ‘Ultimate-er’

Have you had an ‘ah-ha’ moment? The kind that urges you to drop whatever you are doing and check to see if your idea works? That is exactly what happened to Annis Clapp, the designer of the Ultimate Seam Guide not too long ago….

As Annis says, “I was taking a short break to watch the Bernina: Circular Applique video on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms and had a light bulb moment. This is another use for my seam guide!!”

Let’s walk you through it!

Supplies:

• - Ultimate Seam Guide
• - Thumbtack
• - Pencil Eraser from mechanical pencil

Directions:

Place the thumbtack through the front side of the seam guide first at the desired measurement (half the diameter of your desired circle) on the line that lines up to the left of the needle so you won’t end up with rough edges when it’s pulled out.

Push the tack through the front side

There will be rough edges on the bottom. You can cover the rough edges with a piece of clear tape.

Make all of the holes you need (if you are multiple circle sizes) before taping the seam guide to the machine or table.

Remove the thumb tack and place it through the back side.If your seam guide is already taped to the table -  loosen some of the tape then let it fall back in position.

The photo above shows the first row of stitches sewn at the 3″ mark and the thumbtack moved to the 4″ mark.

Place the fabric piece on the tack about 1/4″ from the edge or at the desired location. Place the eraser over the tack. Choose your stitch and sew.

Move the tack as needed to sew multiple rows of stitches. The rows above were sewn 1/2″ apart.” Notice how the eraser over the tack’s point protects you from it!

You really have to love when the ‘a-ha moment’ results are even better than the idea!

Notes to consider:

Punching a hole in the seam guide does make a rough spot on the bottom side so it would need to be covered with possibly more than 1 layer of tape to keep from scratching the surface it is against.

Annis usually uses a piece of card stock behind hers.

If you don’t want to punch holes in the seam guide, you can put the tack through the sticky side of a clear piece of tape and tape it to the front at the desired measurement.

Thank you Annis for sharing this interesting twist on the Ultimate Seam Guide!

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