Originally Posted by
Cari-in-Oly
You don't "have" to cover or drop the feed dogs for fm work. I don't and have never had a problem. I just lessen the presser foot pressure and set the stitch length to zero. on one machine I have I don't even use a hopping foot I just use the regular ss foot. Originally those covers for the old machines were made for darning, which covers a much smaller area and you would generally move the piece much slower so the issue Cathy mentioned wouldn't really be that much of an issue.
I think if it works for you though, then it's a great idea.
Cari
Exactly. There is no need for a cover plate. And as Macy said, it may interfere with the hopping foot height. It would have to be tested with several darning/FMQing feet to see if there is enough clearance. Personally, I wouldn't FMQ on small throat machines like the Spartan etc. and if I had to, I'd just do as Cari said.