Sewing machine: how to sew a straight line left ⇆ right (instead of front ⇆ back)? Instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm looking for advice to use a (basic) sewing machine to sew a line from right to left (or the other way). The feed dog of my sewing machine (and most machines) is made to stitch a line front to back




I know that I will need to cover the feed dog (using a cover plate), then I will need to slide the fabric manually from  right to left with the steadiest speed (for aesthetic: to keep a regular space between the stitches).

If you tried it with a normal sewing machine, I'll be glad to collect your advice! (Does anyone knows what this is called? It's difficult to Google it without knowing the term.)

(That would be useful for many things like drawing a long line following a long tube such as a pant leg)


  I don't see how to cover or deactivate the feeding dog so it won't
  interfere.(@Elmy).


You just need a feed dog cover plate:
You are describing the technique used for "free motion quilting." On some sewing machines, you can lower the feed dogs instead of covering them. Your machine may come with a "darning foot" or a "free motion quilting" foot which should be used when doing this type of stitching to hold the fabric down while the needle is in the fabric, then lifts when the needle comes up so you can move the fabric.