BERNINA Corporate Blog -Over the past few weeks, I have been eagerly getting to know my magical B 990 and exploring its many features. It is simply wonderful, and I am so happy that it is now a permanent member of my studio! I created a small quilt, which I already briefly introduced in my last post.
It contains many different sewing techniques that I want to introduce to you gradually. Today we start with the functions Sideways Motion and Jumbo Stitch. The latter is a new feature available only on the BERNINA 990 .
General information about decorative and sideways motion stitches
The B 990 offers an amazing 957 decorative stitches plus another 272 sideways motion stitches. Choosing is not easy! We can look forward to many new and beautiful designs that no other BERNINA has. Furthermore, there are many more editing options than before. But let’s start at the beginning…
As we already know from other models, the various decorative stitches are thematically sorted into individual folders. As soon as a folder in the lower right is marked with a cross with arrows, that folder contains only sideways motion stitches.
Sideways Motion
Let’s begin with Sideways Motion. Every sewing machine has a maximum defined stitch width. For BERNINA machines, depending on the model, this is 5.5 mm or 9 mm. The B 990 has a stitch width of 9 mm. How is it possible that some stitches can be sewn significantly wider?
This is thanks to Sideways Motion. It can sew “in all directions,” so to speak. Besides the B 990, the BERNINA 790 PRO also has this function. Here you can see how a sideways motion pattern is sewn.
Tips for beautiful sideways motion stitches
To achieve especially beautiful results when using Sideways Motion, I recommend following these tips:
- Always place a sufficiently large piece of stabilizer under your fabric to stabilize the work. Whether you use a wash-away or tear-away stabilizer is up to you.
- Guide the fabric carefully and evenly with “pointed fingers,” without “shifting” the fabric and thus the stitch.
- Find a point where the foot can run parallel. This could be a previously sewn stitch, a marking line, or you can use the grooves on the extension table as orientation.
- You will achieve the best results when stitching decorative stitches/sideways motion patterns by threading the machine as if for embroidery, i.e., embroidery thread (e.g., Poly Sheen by Mettler) as the top thread and a special, very fine bobbin thread (e.g., Bibbinette by Mettler, size 150) as the bobbin thread.
- Always attach the extension table so the fabric can lie smoothly and flat.
- Depending on fabric quality, adjusting the presser foot pressure can be beneficial.
- Stretchy/elastic fabrics are not ideal for sideways motion patterns. They “shift” and stretch during transport, making it almost impossible for the machine to match the start/end or pattern positions perfectly.
Borders with sideways motion stitches
In an earlier post, I introduced the B 990 Simulator. Here you can digitally admire all the available sideways motion stitches of the B 990. It can be downloaded for free from the BERNINA website.
With sideways motion patterns, you can also create beautiful borders like the one I integrated into a quilt I made some time ago.
Jumbo Stitch of the B 990
The Jumbo Stitch is a completely new feature available only on the B 990. With this function, you can adjust the size of decorative stitches between 25% and 500%. This is not only possible with sideways motion patterns but can be applied to all decorative stitches. Thus, 9 mm wide decorative stitches can be converted into sideways motion patterns, and sideways motion patterns can be enlarged accordingly.
Here I used the Jumbo Stitch function to make the flowers “grow” in different sizes.
How to set the Jumbo Stitch
Here we see stitch number 1140 in the default setting with a stitch width of 9 mm.
When we go into Edit mode (pencil icon), this window opens. Here we find the Jumbo Stitch function.
Once we select the Jumbo Stitch function, the size can be adjusted as desired. This can be done proportionally or separately for length and width. When the blue “lock” in the middle right is pressed, the pattern can be individually adjusted in width/length.
For those who like videos, here is a nice tutorial about the Jumbo Stitch:
Flower meadow with jumbo and sideways motion stitches
The bottom strip of my quilt is decorated with a flower meadow. The plants and blossoms were all sewn with sideways motion patterns and partially enlarged using the Jumbo Stitch. Why they are “colored in” and how I did it, I will reveal in the next post.
At first, I transferred the stitch length from the display to the fabric to determine the starting point for the motif.
This way, the end fit perfectly. Alternatively, you can reverse the sewing direction and start at the lower fabric edge. That worked just as well!
That’s all from me today! Maybe you already have a B 990 of your own? Then I wish you lots of fun and joy trying it out! Everyone else still has the chance to write a magical wish list…!
Warm regards and see you next time.
Yours, Claudia from Il Coccolino
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