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My aunt told me to sew my zipper foot backwards and it actually worked
She's been making quilts since before I was born, so I figured what's the harm in trying. I was struggling with a heavy denim jacket project, kept getting puckers on the zipper tape. She walked over, flipped the foot around, and told me to run it slow. Three minutes later the zipper was perfect. I've been sewing for about 4 years now and never once thought to try that. Anyone else have a family member drop some weird trick that totally changed how you do something?
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the_nathan27d ago
That "run it slow" part is key too. My grandma had this thing with bobbins where she swore by winding them by hand instead of using the machine winder. Said it kept the tension even. I thought she was crazy for years until I tried it on a tricky silk blouse and suddenly my stitches stopped looping underneath. It takes forever and my hand cramps up, but for finicky fabrics I swear it works. Now I do it for any special project, feels like some kind of secret handshake with the old timers.
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the_jesse27d ago
Nah that bobbin thing is wild, I'd definitely give up halfway through and just yeet the whole project into a corner. My aunt's advice was basically "stop fighting the machine, let it win" which I guess is solid life advice too. Next thing you know she'll tell me to iron my seams with a literal brick and I'll probably do it. Old folks really do have that secret menu of sewing tricks locked behind years of frustration.
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