themadpatter

I have a 401a and the lever on the right front has 3 settings: Down, Up and Unlock. Allegedly, you can use the UP position for darning, and theoretically, for free motion work. In the manual it says, "for darning, embroidery, and sewing on buttons." (Page 16)

So, you don't drop the feed dogs, but raise the feed dog cover. The result is the same, theoretically. You can also do free motion by loosening the presser foot pressure and setting the stitch length at 0. Haven't tried that yet, because my presser foot screw was missing until I got one recently, and other things have been more important.