I purchased a walking foot attachment for my Brother and was delighted how well it worked. However, after studying exactly how it works, I am thinking that the placebo effect might has snookered me.
I was under the impression that it was pulling the top fabric through the machine but it seems that it only goes up and down with the needle and rides back as the dogs pull from the bottom then rises and springs back forward.
There is no pulling at all on top. If I put the embroidery plate over the feed dogs, there is no movement at all.
Is this the way they all work and if so, what good are they?
How about the machines with the walking foot built in?
Yes, this *is* how they work - BUT: the double nature of the foot pressing down means that it *does* grab the fabric on the top and stop it sliding forwards with the pressure of a normal foot. One part holds it down while the other springs forward ready for the next stitch. Good quality ones work very well indeed.
This is correct. They will work against each other. If you want to use the embroidery plate, do freemotion embroidery or quilting: with the darning/embroidery foot, you can move the fabric in any direction. You just need to learn to control it so that the stitches are even sizes...
I find mine are VERY useful for quilting, on velvet and polar fleece and other piled fabrics, for keeping checks matched up, and for many multi-layer projects.
Some folk swear by them: many of the Pfaffs have this feature, but I find the rest of the controls so awkward to use that I am better off with the Husqvarna and the walking foot! :)
I feel much better about it now. Guess I just didn't understand the problem.
Since getting it, I have used it for everything but button holes, zippers, bar tacks and buttons.
I am just learning to make trousers and it really is great on the long seams. They end up exactly where I put them to start.
My ref to the embroidery plate was just to eliminate the feed dogs to prove the point I thought was a defect.
Interesting though, when I set the stitch length at zero, it does make a tiny stitch which creeps along slowly. Don't know why but I had this problem when trying to make zig-zag bar tacks on the back pockets. I could not get a satin finish so I had to remove the WF to get it right.
Ron, I think it depends on the make and machine, and exactly which stitch pattern you are using. I wouldn't use the Singer style cheap and cheerful with a zigzag, but the Husqvarna one if fine for it, and there are instances in HV's instructions that tell you to use it for certain swing needle processes (like the wavy line quilting stitch). I wouldn't use it on any of the denser things like satin stitch, but it works a treat with a lot of the rows of flowers and things when I'm doing them on polar fleece or quilted items.
ACK!!! Thanks for this info, Ron (as I fervently hope mine won't meet an early demise because of the times I've used it to zigzag the raw edges of quilted pillow tops).
..I've used my vintage Singer even feed foot, on a 401, many, many times with zig zag & other fancy stitches over the past four years, with no problem at all. The even feed foot is still going strong....
-Irene
-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20
Read it again. He didn't say "damage". He said "replace it real often". You're putting down a lot more stitch "mileage" when you zig zag so, of course, it will wear faster just like tires on an auto. In addition, you're also introducing an unnecessary transverse stress/shear on the walking foot pads and mechanism from the zig-zag motion of the needle whilst it is intended to be moving forward without that kind of extra stress. The walking foot is meant for seaming and seaming is not usually done with a zig-zag stitch. The only place you might possibly use a zig-sag stitch for seaming is in absence of a lycra or stretch stitch on knits. But you would not generally require a walking foot for knits anyway.
Using a small zigzag and the walking foot for some stretch and knit fabrics is magic! WAAAAAY better than any of those silly lumpy 'stretch' or 'overlock' stitches you get. The only thing better is a serger, and there are some places they do not go - even the few that have the free arm!
As for sewing bias cut woven chiffon velvet... There *IS* no better way than the zigzag and the walking foot! :)
I do have to point out that I do this on the £40 Husqvarna walking foot rather than on the cheap Singer fit one that was half the price, is half the weight, and is worked by springs rather than a ratchet! Too much welly on the cheap one and the springs fall off... If replacing a £40 walking foot every 15-20 years is the price I pay for impeccable results, so what? I'll got for the impeccable results, especially when sewing customer garments! The customer garment sewing pays for it, after all...
Why not knits? Some knits slide all over the place. I've had good luck when using a walking foot with knits.....in fact, the old Singer "Smooth and Even Feed" foot say in the directions that they are perfect for matching pliads...
-Irene
-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20
Be nice if "he" gave us his reasons but would one replace it if not damaged?
Guess I do not see that. The machine does more work but the foot simply marches forward at the stitch length setting whether straight or zz.
Again, I don't see how the needle motion affects the foot at all other than the needle screw sliding in the nylon fork but that probably will last a few billion stitches. The needle is only moving up and down during the time the foot in engaged.
I never challenged that although others have. I just wanted to know why it would have to be "replaced" more frequently with zz.
For what it's worth, I will use mine as the basic foot and only change when necessary. I love it and if I have to replace it after a few billion stitches... so be it.
Yes, like I said, that's likely the place you'd use a zig zag stitch if you didn't have a (decent) lycra or stretch stitch. No doubt the effectiveness of these types of stitches varies with the machine. Mine does them faultlessly--- no lumps; I guess I'm lucky. I don't understand why one would need to use a walking foot on knits, however. I sew with knits all the time and I've never needed a walking foot. Care to clue me in?
I'm curious, what purpose does the zig zag serve in that operation? And, btw, what is chiffon velvet? LOL.... I'm just brimming with questions tonight!
The current Bernina WF retails at $129 though it can be obtained for around $100. So I guess that's about in line with your Husqvarna WF. I wouldn't be w/o a walking foot. :)
My machine does the stitches faultlessly - but compared to the serger, they are lumpy and amateur-looking, and none of them cut and cover the edges with the smoothness and stretch of a serged seam made with the correct thread.
Chiffon velvet is very light weight, usually a rayon or rayon backing with silk pile: it's very slippery. The pile makes the fabric creep and pucker... Bias cut things are a whole new exciting experience for the stitcher who has never done anything bias cut. Bias cut seams are almost as stretchy as Lycra knits. The best way to sew a woven garment bias cut is with a small narrow zigzag, which has built in stretch, because you want the seams to stretch and move the way the rest of the garment does. Added to the pile of the velvet... Well, the only way to go is the small narrow zigzag and the walking foot! :) Try it - magically smooth pucker-free seams that press open and vanish inside the garment.
I'm thinking of getting a third so I always have one with me for the Elnas... :)
My reference (look again) was to stretch and lycra stitches--- not overlocking. I use a serger when I want to overlock.
Actually, the last thing I'd want with a properly-made bias-cut garment is stretch in the seams after it is permanently seamed. That is because it will change the entire shape of the garment. Further, non-vertical seams should be stabilized. That will help to ensure the shape of the garment. There are a number of ways to deal with bias-on-bias seams and they include pressing the patterns pieces after they are cut, loop-basting vertical seams and then hanging the *basted* garment for a couple days before seaming. Some people stretch bias seams whilst they are sewing but that takes some experience and care so as not to introduce too much stretch and ruin the shape of the garment. I would just add that rayon is not the best choice for a bias-cut garment since it has an abnormal amount of stretch.
Yes, these are the stitches on the 'ordinary' machine I mean: I have a collection of both 'stretch' and 'over-edge'/'overlock' stitches on the Lily. None of them gives the professional look and quality of either a properly serged edge or, for a flat open seam, a narrow zigzag.
Now, I would take issue with some of this: yes you *do* need stretch and give in the long seams, so that the seams move in the same way as the fabric. If you fix the seams TOO firmly, the fabric will stretch more than the seams, leaving you with a puckered and buckled seam that will never lie flat and look fluid, as a bias cut seamed garment should be. If you use the narrow zigzag, it has just enough 'give' in the seam, and will press open just as well as a plain flat seam. Stretching does, as you say, have the danger of being too much, but it is a valid technique developed for the older straight stitch only machines when bias cutting became seriously fashionable in the 1920's and (even more so!) in the 1930's.
Some areas (some necklines and armholes, and occasionally waistlines) may need to be fixed more firmly to dictate the shape of the garment, but I find that rather than using a fixed length seam that will crack when you move, a straight grain cut facing is a better option. That way the fix is hidden inside the garment, whose main pieces will still flow. Some garments are, in fact, cut on the bias with a straight grain cut bodice lining for just this purpose. The one I made for the '70's extravigaza a few years back is like this.
For the special problems of fixing zips in the side seam of a bias cut dress, take a look at the project about rescuing a bias cut disaster on my web site. This will also show you why a straight stitched seam is NOT a good idea in a bias cut dress!
Rayon is a wonderful fabric for flowing bias cut garments. Done properly, it has the grace and fluidity of silk satin, without the shine. I love using it, and with care and attention to technique, it makes seriously good things. For some uses it's much better than silk
*because* of the fluidity coupled with ease of handling. Chiffon velvet has all the advantages of the fluidity of rayon with the added luxury and richness of the pile. Cut on the bias, it can be a designer's dream.
You may need that but I do not. In my experience, it is bias seams that tend to stretch the most given their weight--- if not properly managed. I'd also caution beginning stitchers who may be reading this thread to look at some professional articles on this topic and they will be hard pressed to find a single recommendation for zig-zagging bias seams to allow them to stretch. I'm not saying there isn't a single application for the method you promote. But I am saying that 99% of the time, the last thing you want is for bias seams to be stretching after the garment is complete. If one needs to stretch the garment to get it on, then insufficient ease has been allowed.
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