This Tiny Gadget Instantly Improved My Sewing | Reviews by Wirecutter

By Michael Sullivan

Michael Sullivan is a writer covering kitchen equipment and tableware. He has broken more than a hundred drinking glasses to find the most durable.

In the year and a half that I’ve been sewing, I’ve made dozens of clothes, including colorful shirt-and-short sets, high-waisted pleated pants, and patchwork hoodies.

And while everything with sewing takes longer than you think it should, the speed at which I’ve been able to churn out garments accelerated once I discovered a little-yet-mighty tool called a magnetic seam guide. It acts like a metal bumper for your fabric as you’re running it through the sewing machine, keeping your stitches straight and at an even distance from the edge of your fabric.

I’m not Cinderella, and I don’t have a bunch of very talented mice friends to help me out, but this tiny doodad is the next best thing.

This seam guide magnetizes to the throat plate of your sewing machine to create even seam widths while you’re sewing.

I first stumbled upon this handy gadget via one of the many sewing accounts I follow on Instagram, and I was curious to see how well it actually worked. While some sewing machines come with a seam guide (including our upgrade pick, the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960), mine didn’t. So I decided to try three different inexpensive seam guides (one was about $2).

There are many more on the market that I didn’t comparatively test, but of the ones I tried, the Madam Sew version had the strongest magnet. Also, compared with other models I tested, this one is less bulky, which makes sewing curves easier. I’ve thanked the sewing gods ever since.

I wish I’d known about it sooner—it’s done more to level up my skills than any other tool I’ve tried. Gone are the days of wonky stitches, the kind that looked like I’d had a few drinks before sitting down to sew.

I’m a perfectionist, so I loathe having to reach for my seam ripper to tear out said stitches. And I feel confident that the magnetic seam guide has saved me from hours of tedious work (and cursing under my breath).

Since I began sewing, I’ve been using a basic hand-me-down Singer sewing machine. It gets the job done, but the seam guide makes my mediocre machine easier to use (I’m currently saving up for an upgrade).

Before discovering the magnetic seam guide, I used to put a strip of painter’s tape on the throat plate of my sewing machine as a visual guide for keeping my fabric straight. But because tape doesn’t add any height to create a bumper, it still requires focus and a steady hand to keep seam allowances uniform.

I’ve also tried taping a small, square piece of thick cardboard to the throat plate. This works pretty well, particularly for heavier fabrics (like when I made a jacket from a plush vintage quilt), because it provides more height.

But the magnetic version is so much easier to maneuver, especially if you’re switching back and forth between multiple seam allowances within the same project, such as when you’re making French seams. There’s no tape to peel up every time you want to move this guide (and no sticky residue to deal with if you’re using masking tape). You simply lift the guide off the throat plate and reposition it. For me, the magnetic version is a no-brainer.

The magnet on the bottom of the Madam Sew seam guide is surprisingly strong, considering how little it is.

Unlike other models I’ve tried, this one remains firmly in place, so you don’t have to worry about it wiggling around or shifting while you’re sewing. Yet it’s not so strong that you have to pry it off your machine with a crowbar. The metal lip on one side of the guide makes it easy to get a grip and lift it off.

When I first started sewing, I dreaded making sleeves. They require a bunch of pins, curved edges, and multiple layers of fabric that need to stay flat while you’re constructing them. Frankly, it can feel like a horror show when you’re just starting out. But the magnetic seam guide is angled to accommodate sewing curves.

It’s one less thing to think about, since you don’t have to worry about keeping a consistent seam allowance. I still take my time when sewing around curves, but it’s so much easier and a lot less scary with a guide.

The magnetic guide is a huge time-saver. I used to mark all of my seam allowances directly onto my fabric using a washable pen or chalk, so I knew exactly where to stitch, but it was tedious and time-consuming. Using the seam guide has eliminated that step. Now I just position the guide where I want it on the throat plate and run the fabric through the machine, and I’m off to the races.

Not only are my stitches more professional-looking, but I can sew twice as fast because I don’t have to be as cautious as I would be when sewing freehand without a guide or following hand-drawn markings. I still need to check that the fabric isn’t curling up over the guide or bunching up next to it (especially with slippery fabrics, like silk), but I find it’s much easier than using other methods.

One thing I’ve noticed over the past year is that when I slid the seam guide around to move it, it lightly scratched the metal throat plate on my sewing machine. If you want to avoid this, I’d recommend lifting the guide up off of the sewing machine before repositioning it.

There are a lot of concerns floating around crafty spaces on the internet related to magnets damaging computerized sewing machines. However, the tiny magnet on the underside of the seam guide isn’t strong enough to cause any issues for modern machines with LCD or OLED display screens. For reassurance, here’s a demo showing someone placing magnets on some pricey computerized sewing machines, with no ill effect. If you’re unsure, refer to the user manual for your sewing machine, or contact the manufacturer before using your seam guide.

It’s also a good idea to check that the measurement markings on your throat plate are the correct distance from the needle before you use them to position your seam guide. (There are specific rulers for measuring this, but a seam gauge, a quilting ruler, or a regular ruler work too. I just use a seam gauge.)

Finding pockets of time to work on sewing projects can be difficult, but thanks to this handy piece of metal, I’ve been able to complete so many more garments—including a kimono jacket with sashiko embroidery, tank tops made from open-weave cotton, and linen camp-collar shirts in several fun colors—in a short amount of time.

And to reap the benefits of a cheap little seam guide, it doesn’t matter what skill level you’re at. Even if you sew only occasionally or mostly use your machine to hem pants, this is still a useful gadget to have in your sewing arsenal.

This article was edited by Erica Ogg and Catherine Kast.

Michael Sullivan

Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade.

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