Sometimes a new tool needs to be made

Hello, everyone.

I have started a project involving lots of narrow hemming. Technically, it's 1/4" hems on lots of straight pieces of fabric.

I began by using the Easy Hem gauge that was inherited from my dear MIL. It had marks at the right distance, and a nice straight edge, and it is thin. I began by pressing the edge of the first piece of fabric up all the way around the piece, and then doing it again so the raw edge would be properly buried in the hem. Oops. The metal hem gauge got hot.

I thought about using various quilting rulers, but they're all plastic, and this needed to be pressed without any marked line, as the fabric is white.

Then I remembered that paper tag board can be pressed. (No, you can't use steam or water with it.) I drove over to the local Michael's store and got a piece of extra thick poster board. Then marked a 2" line across the 22" narrow end of the board and cut along the line.  After that, using the quilting ruler, I marked lines at 1/4" and 1/2" and other useful distances. Last of all, I punched a hole at one end and reinforced it with a bit of scrap.

Can you tell that the sun was shining through the window? Oh, well. The gauge works for the job. It's a little delicate, as it's 22" long and 2" wide, but it's hanging from a peg on the wall when not in use.