Matching Plaids

From: "Caroline Gensheimer"

snip/>When I called her she suggested bringing something that would be a challenge/that I've never tried before /snip/>I decided to go for the gusto. I brought some beautiful plaid/snip/> Now, 3 weeks into the>class (meets once-a-week), I realize that in my life time I'm NOT>going to be using plaid fabric much!!! GGRRRRRRRRRRR. Anyway, after >that huge preamble, would a "walking" foot help at all????? I pin it>HEAVILY and then machine baste it and it still shifts and I have to>rip it out. Each seem so far I've had to rip out at least once,>usually twice

Now, Tisha, take a deep breath. It's not as hard as it sounds. Plaids just take more consideration and planning prior to execution (pun intended). You will survive to conquer plaids. Try hand basting. Even a simple running stitch might help. Other folks on the list have suggested using tissue paper somehow (someone please explain; I haven't tried the tissue plan myself) to help stabilize the fabric as it passes the feed dog.  Are you trying to match on the bias? Try stay-stitching the seamline first, being certain not to stretch the fabric.Were all your pieces cut on a single fabric layer? Striped and plaid fabrics hould always be cut as a single layer.  Was the fabric lengthwise grain exactly perpendicular (at a 90 degree angle) to the cross-wise grain when you laid out the fabric for cutting?Did you prewash the fabric (or, in the case of wool, steam the grainlines into submission)?Did you match plaid points while laying out the pattern? The plaids must match at the seamline, and not the cutting line (this is where, as a young [about 11 years old] self-taught sewer, I screwed up all the time).