First off, I'm a 29 year old guy who doesn't know much about sewing. But, I do know plenty about woodworking and know how to measure, layout, and cut reliably.
My mom gave me a 40 year old singer touch n sew 604e. After buying the manual online and figuring out how to thread it, I suprised my wife with some pillows for our bed. I used some loopy, flat edging that looked good, but I couldn't get cording to come out right. I read in the manual some more and found out I needed a zipper foot (I think). Okay, I dug out the zip-lock bag-o-parts and found what looked right.
I attached it and lowered the foot, and it stayed about a quarter of an inch above the deck. In this position, I obviously can't get any pressure on the fabric or get it to work.
I thought that I might try riding with the cording itself under the foot and the needle straddling it, but this didn't feel like it was the way it was supposed to work and keeping straight was a challenge.
Am I doing something wrong, or do I have the wrong foot? This is entirely possible given the nature of the "bag-o-parts" My mom is in a different state, so "just asking her" is a futile effort.