Question about sewing machine feet

Okay, I will admit I don't use the sewing machine often even though Mrs.
Bruton (Home Ec Teacher) went through alot of trouble to teach me to use one
:-) But, I am taking a quilting class with some friends and it was
recommended that I get a darning foot and a walking foot. Now is the hard
part, what is a low shank foot???? I haven't got the faintest clue what that
means. All I know is that the machine I have has the foot use place it
where it is suppose to go, drop the lever and it snaps in, is this a low
shank? The machine I orginally learned on had the slant foot (singer) and
my other machine that the DH (D could stand for many things at this point)
broke had a completely different style foot so I am not sure and I really
don't want to ask the instructor. Atleast here, I can be semi anonymous :-)

Thank you
Kristy

"Kristy Malarkey" wrote in message

Okay, I will admit I don't use the sewing machine often even though
Mrs. Bruton (Home Ec Teacher) went through alot of trouble to teach
me to use one :-) But, I am taking a quilting class with some
friends and it was recommended that I get a darning foot and a
walking foot. Now is the hard part, what is a low shank foot???? I
haven't got the faintest clue what that means. All I know is that
the machine I have has the foot use place it where it is suppose to
go, drop the lever and it snaps in, is this a low shank? The machine
I orginally learned on had the slant foot (singer) and my other
machine that the DH (D could stand for many things at this point)
broke had a completely different style foot so I am not sure and I
really don't want to ask the instructor. Atleast here, I can be semi
anonymous :-)

A picture's worth 1000 words. )
http://www.sewfancy.com/feet.htm

Jeri wrote:


A picture's worth 1000 words. )
http://www.sewfancy.com/feet.htm
Maybe I'm dense? I don't see walking foot, darning foot or low shank
foot in any of these. Are they called by another name?

--
Joan

See my first-ever design he
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/joan.jpg

"Stitch when you are young and poor, frame when you are old and rich."
- Elizabeth's (rctn'r) sister's MIL (Barbara Marr)

"Joan Erickson" wrote in message

Jeri wrote:


A picture's worth 1000 words. )
http://www.sewfancy.com/feet.htm
Maybe I'm dense? I don't see walking foot, darning foot or low shank
foot in any of these. Are they called by another name?

I'm sorry. Shank is the height of the foot it's not a specific foot. The
pictures are of low shank, high shank, slant shank, and super high shank
feet.
You have to know which your sewing machine takes so you can buy the proper
feet.
There are generic darning and walking feet you can buy but you still need to
know what shank you need.

On 2/10/04 7:54 PM,"Jeri" posted:

"Joan Erickson" wrote in message

Jeri wrote:


A picture's worth 1000 words. )
http://www.sewfancy.com/feet.htm
Maybe I'm dense? I don't see walking foot, darning foot or low shank
foot in any of these. Are they called by another name?

I'm sorry. Shank is the height of the foot it's not a specific foot. The
pictures are of low shank, high shank, slant shank, and super high shank
feet.
You have to know which your sewing machine takes so you can buy the proper
feet.
There are generic darning and walking feet you can buy but you still need to
know what shank you need.


I'm sure Tia Mary can answer this better, but.... Darning feet are often a
circular foot, which allows the needle to move a far distance sideways. Some
are actually almost oblong, I have one that is made of clear plastic, and
another that is a metal ring (maybe 1/4"-3/8" diameter). Mine are ones with
the shank including a spring-loaded portion. For a picture, here's the link
to the Bernina basic darning foot:
http://www.berninausa.com/product_de...id=1713&PRODUC
T%3C%3Esku_id=2435&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=821&ASSOR TMENT%3C%3East_id=775&bmUI
D=1076470329949

The walking foot is just that - they're expensive, and the entire gadget
hooks onto the mounting - and it essentially walks the fabric thru - so that
you can stitch thru bulky layers - as in quilting. It's not for use in doing
free-motion quilting, but is great for straight line, grids, stitching in
the ditch. This is a link to a Bernina Walking foot - just to give you an
idea:
http://www.berninausa.com/product_de...id=1773&PRODUC
T%3C%3Esku_id=2547&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=821&ASSOR TMENT%3C%3East_id=775&bmUI
D=1076470236277

If you page back, the Bernina site has a bunch of information about feet,
adapters, etc. Their basic site is: www.berninausa.com

Hope this helps.

ellice

From: "Kristy Malarkey"

.... I am taking a quilting class with some friends and it was
recommended that I get a darning foot and a walking foot. Now is the hard
part, what is a low shank foot? .......

Go to the Clotilde website -- http://www.clotilde.com -- and search for the
different terms. You'll get info and pictures. They have diagrams of the
different types of feet and you take one of your feet and match it to the
diagram that fits and that's how you find out what you have :-))! Also start
hanging out at RCTQ -- great bunch of quilters over there :-)!
A Darning Foot is used for free motion embroidery and quiting. It has a
round "foot" with a hole in it for the needle to go trhough. It also has a
spring attached to a thin bar that rests on the screw that holds the needle in
place. When the needle goes up and down, it moves that round "foot" up and
down so that the quilt sandwich is more easily passed under the needle. this
eliminates a lot of puckering on the back and front of the quilt.
A Walking Foot is used for machine quilting in straight line patterns
because it feeds the top fabric through the machine at the same speed as the
bottom fabric. This is done with another spring and metal bar set up like the
embroidery foot. It is also a MUST for matching plaids and other fabric
designs. It has a set of feed dogs in amongst the foot area that grab onto the
top fabric to move it along while the sewing machine feed dogs work on the
bottom layer of fabric. it is a *bear* to put on the machine but well worth
the effort!
You can get a generic Walking Foot at the Clotiled site at a really
reasonable price. All you need to know is what type of shank you have. As has
been mentioned, the shank is the metal bar that the different presser feet are
attached to. Word of caution, if you have a Husquvarna Viking machine you will
not be able to use any of the generic feet. They are total rip off artists
IMNSHO!! A generic Walking Foot costs maybe $25.00. My friend paid $85 for
the one for her Viking!
AHHH -- see what you started?? Get me wound up and I am a real Chatty Cathy
-- LOLOL! CiaoMeow ^;;^
..


PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ Queen of Kitties
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

Ellice wrote:

"Joan Erickson" wrote in message

Are they called by another name?

Shank is the height of the foot it's not a specific foot. The
pictures are of low shank, high shank, slant shank, and super high shank
feet.

I'm sure Tia Mary can answer this better, but.... Darning feet are often a
circular foot, which allows the needle to move a far distance sideways.
snip
The walking foot is just that - they're expensive, and the entire gadget
hooks onto the mounting - and it essentially walks the fabric thru - so that
you can stitch thru bulky layers - as in quilting. It's not for use in doing
free-motion quilting, but is great for straight line, grids, stitching in
the ditch.
Thank you, Ellice and Tia Mary! I haven't sewn for years and didn't
get into the variety of stitches so I didn't even know these other foots
(feet?) existed. I'm just your basic straight/zigzag/hemming stitch kind
of seamstress!

--
Joan (ya learn something new every day--even when you get to be an old
bat like me!)

See my first-ever design he
http://www.heritageshoppe.com/joan.jpg

"Stitch when you are young and poor, frame when you are old and rich."
- Elizabeth's (rctn'r) sister's MIL (Barbara Marr)

On 2/11/04 12:54 PM,"Joan Erickson" posted:

Ellice wrote:

I'm sure Tia Mary can answer this better, but.... Darning feet are often a
circular foot, which allows the needle to move a far distance sideways.
snip
The walking foot is just that - they're expensive, and the entire gadget
hooks onto the mounting - and it essentially walks the fabric thru - so that
you can stitch thru bulky layers - as in quilting. It's not for use in doing
free-motion quilting, but is great for straight line, grids, stitching in
the ditch.
Thank you, Ellice and Tia Mary! I haven't sewn for years and didn't
get into the variety of stitches so I didn't even know these other foots
(feet?) existed. I'm just your basic straight/zigzag/hemming stitch kind
of seamstress!

Wait until you see all the feet out there. Pintuck feet, blind-hemming feet,
cording feet, binding attachments, rolled hem feet (great for sewing with
sheers - get that fancy French seam). I actually got a big book called
"feetures" - that describes various feet, and how to use them. Amazing how
the right tool can make something go smoother. I only got Volume I - now I'm
going to order Volume II. The Feetures book is a Bernina thing - but likely
applicable to the other machines that can use all these specialty feet.

I understand this - I hadn't sewn for over 20 years when I got my machine. I
love it. It kind of sucked me into visiting G Street way too much! But now
I'm looking forward to really doing some good garment sewing in the summer.

And, check out THREADS magazine - it's awesome for sewers.

ellice

On 2/11/04 2:40 PM, in article , "Ellice"
wrote:

On 2/11/04 12:54 PM,"Joan Erickson" posted:

Ellice wrote:

I'm sure Tia Mary can answer this better, but.... Darning feet are often a
circular foot, which allows the needle to move a far distance sideways.
snip
The walking foot is just that - they're expensive, and the entire gadget
hooks onto the mounting - and it essentially walks the fabric thru - so that
you can stitch thru bulky layers - as in quilting. It's not for use in doing
free-motion quilting, but is great for straight line, grids, stitching in
the ditch.
Thank you, Ellice and Tia Mary! I haven't sewn for years and didn't
get into the variety of stitches so I didn't even know these other foots
(feet?) existed. I'm just your basic straight/zigzag/hemming stitch kind
of seamstress!

Wait until you see all the feet out there. Pintuck feet, blind-hemming feet,
cording feet, binding attachments, rolled hem feet (great for sewing with
sheers - get that fancy French seam).


There's foot that will do that for me! I love frenched seams in blouses,
have done it too, but not for ages.
cheryl

I actually got a big book called
"feetures" - that describes various feet, and how to use them. Amazing how
the right tool can make something go smoother. I only got Volume I - now I'm
going to order Volume II. The Feetures book is a Bernina thing - but likely
applicable to the other machines that can use all these specialty feet.

I understand this - I hadn't sewn for over 20 years when I got my machine. I
love it. It kind of sucked me into visiting G Street way too much! But now
I'm looking forward to really doing some good garment sewing in the summer.

And, check out THREADS magazine - it's awesome for sewers.

ellice

On 2/11/04 2:47 PM,"Cheryl Isaak" posted:

On 2/11/04 2:40 PM, in article , "Ellice"
wrote:


Wait until you see all the feet out there. Pintuck feet, blind-hemming feet,
cording feet, binding attachments, rolled hem feet (great for sewing with
sheers - get that fancy French seam).


There's foot that will do that for me! I love frenched seams in blouses,
have done it too, but not for ages.
cheryl

Yup. I had bought some sheer fabric - to do an overblouse kind of thing.
Anyhow, during the 30% off Bernina sale - I saw the foot, and well, had to
have it. Some of these specialty feet definitely take some practice to use
effectively - but once you do it makes things look so good, and easier than
with a standard foot.

Ellice