I have that foot for my old machine and got on fine with it. Which Janome do you have? I just got one and bought a foot for it, a metal one without the arm going over the needle screw. You adjust it with a little wheel so it just skims the surface. I prefer it to the foot that came with the machine bacause it doesn't bounce and I feel like I have more control. It is closed though but a very small ring. It's a slight pain to pull the threads up and out of the hole once you've started off (I take amma's point about the open ones!) but that aside, I think it works great.