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Sewing Machine Feet.
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Truthfully? You don't have to.
You really only need the first two, even for button holes. All those other feet are icing on the cake. If you never buy any specialty sewing machine feet, you will do just fine. For decades, there WERE no fancy, specialty presser feet.
However, I'm so glad someone thought them up!
Unfortunately, it's rare that you get serious instruction on how to use specialty sewing machine feet when, and if, you buy one. Which is sad, because the more you know about sewing machine feet, the better your sewing projects will turn out. Using the right foot can save you time and add tremendous eye appeal as well.
However, if you are like most people, you will figure them out through trial and error OR you will know someone who has already gone through the trial and error process and can show you. Which saves you a lot of time and the use of words you don't want your children to hear.
Let's look at some of the most popular sewing machine feet, but before we get started, we should take a brief look at shanks. (They're very important.)
What Is a Shank and Why Is It Attached to My Foot?
Think about your foot. It is attached to your leg at the ankle and has the ability to flex up and down (and other directions which don't apply to this). On your sewing machine, the shank is the leg that the presser foot is attached to. For many older machines, changing a foot involves unscrewing the foot's shank and screwing on the shank with the desired foot.There are three types of shanks (unless they've invented a new one I don't know about) that you should be aware of. High, Short and Slanted. Specific sewing machine brands will have a specific type of shank. For instance, most Singer machines use a slanted shank. Check your owner's manual to see what type of shank YOUR machine uses.
Sewing Machine Feet.
Snap On, Snap Off!
It used to be, back in the dark ages (you know, before television), to change your sewing machine feet you had to unscrew the entire shank. And because, back in the dark ages, there were very few specialty feet to choose from, it was no big deal to keep doing it this way.
Lucky for us, people are never satisfied. We're always looking for ways to improve products and make everything we do easier and, therefore, more enjoyable.
Manufacturers are also always looking for ways to get us to spend our money.
Behold! Snap on. Snap off. No more feet permanently affixed to the shank! On modern sewing machines, the shank is now affixed to the machine, not to the foot. The foot snaps on and off!
Popular Sewing Machine Feet
Ok, here's what you came to this page for! All sewing machine manufacturers make presser feet specifically for their machines. You can also find generic and other brands which can be used on most sewing machines. Just be sure to check the specifications if you go generic or with other brands of sewing machine feet.
Bias Binder Foot This foot is designed to save you time when binding the edge of your project. It will take raw biased strips of fabric and fold, feed, flatten and finish your bound edge. All in one step.
Bias Binder Foot with an adjustable feature This foot will attach 1/4" to 3/4" wide bias binding using straight or decorative stitches. Use this foot for pre-packaged and pre-pressed binding.
Braiding Foot This foot is designed for both couching and stitching braid, cord, elastic or ribbon to your projects. Some brands offer this in an adjustable version as well.
Cording Foot This foot is used to attach decorative cords and threads to the outside of your project. The cord or thread runs under the foot, usually through holes on top, which keeps your decoration from getting tangled when being sewn on.
Edge Joining Foot This foot will easily join two pieces of fabric, lace or trims evenly and neatly. You can also use it to stitch a narrow edge.
Felling Foot This foot has a narrow groove underneath which makes professional looking flat felled seams in one easy step. (Look at your jeans. Those enclosed seams are flat felled seams.)
Free Motion or Quilting Foot Most free motion sewing machine feet are clear and have a tension spring which gives them the ability to adjust freely to changes in height of the materials beneath them. They are used for stippling, thread painting and other free motion sewing techniques.
Gathering or Ruffle Foot A gathering foot is used to gather and attach ruffles to your sewing projects in one easy step as you stitch the seam.
Hemmer Foot Hemmer feet are mostly used to put in hems that are too small to be done by hand or on fabrics that are delicate. As the fabric is pulled through the foot, it is curled under and stitched.
Open Toe Foot This wide foot is used for projects involving surface embellishments such as appliques and your machine's decorative stitches.
Pearl or Piping Foot These sewing machine feet are used to apply beading, cording and various sizes of piping to embellish your projects. You can get very creative with this foot!
Pintuck Foot Pintucks are a great way to add surface decoration and texture to your sewing projects. The grooves under the foot tuck up the fabric in neat evenly spaced rows while they are stitched down.
1/4" Quilting Foot This foot will sew exact 1/4" seams for your quilting projects or when you need precise topstitching.
Straight Stitch Foot This foot has a small needle opening that will keep puckering to a minimum on lightweight fabrics and also keep delicate fabric from shifting during the sewing process.
Walking Foot This foot has its own set of feed dogs which help to keep layers of fabric from shifting during the sewing process. Mostly used by quilters. It can also be used on fabrics that tend to move around and are hard to sew on such as velvet and corduroy.
Zipper Foot
This sewing machine foot was designed specifically for inserting zippers and snap tape. It is also used for attaching trim to the outside of sewing projects. Special zipper feet designed for invisible zippers are available which make application a breeze.
Needles, Needles, Needles
Now that you know more about presser feet, take a minute and find out about sewing machine needles! One size does not fit all. The more you know about them, the better you'll be at making your next sewn project.
