Many sewing machine models offer a speed setting dial you can adjust from very slow to very fast—sometimes turtle and hare icons are used to depict the different ends of the dial. If your machine is very basic and does not have this setting, you might want to try sewing barefoot to gain control of the foot pedal. If you want to be sure you won’t sew too fast, find an object like a small scrap of wood that will fit against the foot pedal and prevent your foot from pressing it the whole way down.
