greywuuf

Drag taking was suggested once, and no one seems to have noticed it, I have seen it mentioned on "treadleon" forums and I looked up some old singer material where they were resisting the reverse "phenomena" saying that a drag tack was stronger and faster. i have also heard that many times if you damage the fabric by dragging on it, then your foot pressure is to high, and that many people run it to high as a matter of course. I would assume that FM quilters are an exception to this ;-)

redmadder

Like LindaR, I just hold the fabric and let it stitch in place a few times. It amazes me that the machine (1941 15-30) doesn't jam and loop thread. It just does what I ask.

Muv

What's a tacker? True vintage girl talking here. Whatever it is, I can't say I've ever missed it.

miriam

Muv, some machines have a lever you can make the machine go backwards - that is a tacker.

Muv

Thanks Miriam! Well there's a thing. That's what I'd call a reverse lever. Here tacking is what you call basting. Basting is what we do to meat - lots of hot fat involved, which is a bit messy when sewing.

miriam

Different parts of our country call things different I suppose - I am with you - it is a reverse lever.

jljack

Me 3!! Always learned it as Reverse Lever. I do what Madder and others do on machiens without it....hold on tight and sew 3 or 4 tiny stitches. Works great when needed. When piecing quilts it is not needed. Joe, I know another quilter who insists on backstitching on her piecing, and I just cannot figure out why she does it. If you use small enough stitches it will not pull apart during piecing.

J Miller

A question for those who use the small stitches.

How small? Or in other words, how many stitches per inch?

Another question.

For those who do their own machine quilting, do you use a long or short stitch for that?

Just want to get on the same page as everyone.

Joe

J Miller

OK, for those of you that call the "Back Tacker" reverse and say you've never seen one with a "Back Tacker", here is one so marked: this is my 66-18 and as you can see it is clearly marked "Back Tacker".

Joe

greywuuf

I am still trying to figure out what "true reverse" is and why a back tac is not it?