No small feet
4 April 2008, 12:08I was planning on next sewing up a long-sleeved linen shirt for James using BurdaStyle’s Jakob pattern, but having read through Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing by David Page Coffin, I soon realised that all my previously sewn shirts were terribly amateur and that I’d learned SO MUCH in just reading the first ten pages that I’d no longer be able to go back to my own ignorant ways after eating from the tree of knowledge.
One of the things Coffin said is absolutely necessary is a felling foot for your sewing machine, which I don’t have. These seem to be a rare item for non-Pfaff machines in the UK, so I’ve had to buy one off American eBay (along with a rolled hem foot from the same seller, which Coffin also recommends).
Before I bought the feet, I had a quick rifle through my sewing machine feet box first to see if I already had them and just didn’t know what they were. When I got my sewing machine from my sister-in-law, she threw in a little plastic box full of feet and spare bobbin casings and screwdrivers and all sort of random pieces that she thought went with the machine. Some I’ve been able to identify, but others are still a mystery, so I’m hoping some of you will be able to help me out…
The A Team – the feet I use all the time! From left to right: the standard foot, the adjustable zipper foot, and the walking foot
First Division – which only see occasional use. From left to right: the invisible zipper foot, the roller foot, the button foot, and the clear standard foot
The “I Might Use Them Someday?” Feet – From left to right: The darning/embroidery foot, the blind hem foot, and ??? (I have no idea – anyone know what this is for?)
Please Help Me Identify Pile – these are some bits that don’t look like feet but were included in the box. Does anyone have any idea what these parts do? I’d be very grateful, and who knows, I might have a fantastic gem hidden in here that could save me lots of time in the future!
So while I wait for the felling and rolled hem feet to arrive, I’m finally putting an old length of IKEA table runner fabric to good use, and making a quick Patrones skirt and a new shopping bag…
Attention old sewing machine owners! Krista is compiling a list of reviews of old sewing machines to help out beginning sewers who may find machines on eBay or freecycle or flea markets and not know whether it’s a good machine or not. I’ll be adding my retro beauty to the list, and you can add yours by emailing her using the link on the site.
Edit: Thank you to everyone who helped out! Read some of the conclusions and see an action photo here!
Tags: machine, menswear
I believe the “foot” on the top right of the “what are they?” photo is for the walking foot. You can use it to set the distance between rows of stitching. Mostly used by quilters when they are quilting the layers together
— Lis Apr 4, 01:44 PM #
Lis – Really? That’s even weirder, because I bought my walking foot, and that bit came from you (unless it came with a walking foot of yours as an accessory back in the day)… Mine did come with a sliding gauge, though (really just a bent piece of metal) that sounds like it does essentially the same thing, so maybe you’re right.
— melissa Apr 4, 03:26 PM #
Sorry I can offer no help on identifying your feet, but I am envious. Geez my machine has a paltry 3 feet – I need to go shopping!
— AllisonC Apr 4, 04:05 PM #
The device on the upper right in your last photo looks like the seam gauge that screws into a hole on my Singer Featherweights. You set it for the width seam you want, and run the fabric past the left edge. Hope this helps!
— Noile Apr 5, 12:19 AM #
Third pic down, the narrow foot is a straight stitch foot. Great to use with thinner fabrics that may get sucked down into the throat plate because of the narrow distance between the foot “legs”. They help put a firmer grip on the fabric.
— Debbie Apr 5, 03:08 AM #
Noile – Thanks! That what Lis (she who gave me the machine) guessed at, so having a second opinion essentially confirms it in my mind…
Is there an additional screwhole that it attaches into on yours, or does it somehow fit onto the same mechanism that you attach the feet onto? I’m going to have to give my machine a second look and see if I can see any likely holes!
— melissa Apr 7, 02:46 PM #
Debbie – Thanks very much! I’d heard people referring to straight stitch feet before, but I always assumed they just had a small hole up at the top, not a full slit! And then the uneven toes threw me off, too. That’s great, that means I’ve got all the feet identified now, just two of the misc pile yet to go!
— melissa Apr 7, 02:47 PM #
What is a walking foot for? And can you point me to a website that has good explanations of the uses for all different types of feet and different kinds of needles and stuff like that?
— April Apr 7, 07:45 PM #
April – When you’re sewing two layers of fabric together, sometimes the top layer has a tendency to slip because only the bottom layer is being directly moved by the feed dogs in your machine. Rather than letter the fabric slide, a walking foot actually “walks” your fabric down (with a big noisy “kuh-junk kuh-junk” sound) and keeps the layers from slipping. For me, this is a magic foot – if I ever have any misbehaving fabric, I bring out the walking foot and it’s all fixed. I’ve used it on velvet, knits, slippery fabrics, and leather and it’s fabulous.
There’s a great thread on Pattern Review that links to a ton of sewing machine feet and photo instructions on how to use them. I learned a lot!
And here’s a site with a bunch of videos on using various specialty feet…
— melissa Apr 8, 03:34 PM #
The ??? foot :o) is definitely just a plain old 1/4” foot, used to guide seams by quilters—the other side is for an 1/8” seam. The three mystery feet….well, those have me stumped. I have a few of my own (Singer Featherweight 221 came with some oddballs) that need identifying as well! Good luck—great blog….
— unreliable narrator May 16, 09:21 AM #