Oh no, on this machine, the needle will not go all the way down if the presser foot is not down. It sits above the bed about 1/8th of an inch when down. The reason for this is because the presser foot does not bounce or move in any way while sewing and there are no feed dogs. If the presser foot is lowered to the bed, the machine will not move freely over the sandwich with it down. It is high-shank and I have no other feet for it so have to use what she had on it. She had it set higher up than the 1/8th inch but it didn't seem right to have it 1/2 inch off the quilt sandwich like she did. I have never seen a foot like this one so wasn't sure it was actually a proper foot! LoL