mandyrose

here is another she really knows how to use it I could never master mine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpzj0Cu5zog

citruscountyquilter

I have used a rolled hemming foot with success. The trick is getting it started. You start out by folding a narrow hem (1/8") over twice. You only need to do this for half inch or so. It helps to touch a hot iron to it to hold it in place. Then take it to your machine and put the needle down through the hem. Next take the fabric and pull it up through the rolled part of the foot and start stitching. The rolled part of the foot will roll the fabric into a narrow hem and the needle which follows closely behind will stitch it in place. You don't have to worry too much about where the needle will fall on the fabric because the foot will guide it. To do corners I stitch to the end and then start the new side fresh like I started out but try to miter the corner on the new side a bit to make it neater. I tried going around a gentle curve and it did not work well. I was able to do it but got some rippling. Straight edges work better. My manual for my machine (Janome 8900) had some instructions and pictures. If your's doesn't perhaps there is a tutorial you could watch on line. I love having that foot for finishing things off like napkins and such. It is a very narrow hem so wouldn't use it much for garment construction.

The real trick that worked for me is holding the fabric up away from the bed of the machine to allow the roll in the foot to be able to take it up.

crafty pat

I have two types of hemmer feet, one is for blind stitching and is for a wider hem and one for a small rolled hem that would be used for a ruffle. The instruction book that came with your machine will show you how to use both.

debbiemarie

The bernina has several hemming feet, I found it worked well with some practice.

Manalto

I guess I didn't word my question correctly. What seemed obvious to me (that I looked up instructions and videos in as many places as possible before submitting my question) was not an assumption shared by others. I guess my question should have been: Have you used the hemmer foot successfully? What tricks or techniques do you use?

I was surprised to see on the Singer web site a recommendation that a narrow, double-folded hem be ironed the entire length of the piece to be hemmed before using the foot. At that point a regular straight-stitch foot would work almost as well, I would think. The fabric I'm working with is a mystery fiber, but its resistance to ironing tells me the polyester content is significant. Attempting to iron a 1/8" hem several feet long (it's for curtains) with this fabric would send me either to the liquor store or the loony bin. I've practiced (quite a bit) with scraps of the fabric and have gotten some flawless stretches of hem (the fabric seems to be the right weight for this technique), after which it misbehaves (I can't see that I'm doing anything differently) and then it's single folded, pleated lengthwise, twisted, sloppy, etc. One video showed the person demonstrating holding the feed fabric sharply to the left, another put slight tension on the fabric by holding it front and back, and so on. I mimicked all these methods as best as I could and results were inconsistent.

CanoePam

The Bernina website has nice videos of how to use a hemming foot (applies to all machines). I prefer the method where you start sewing a few stitches, remove the fabric gently, and then start rolling the hem. I finally have the foot mostly mastered, but it takes a lot of concentration to keep it evenly curled.Pam

Lyncat

It will be worth learning to use it. You can make a neat, narrow hem quickly without all that pressing! The pictures are from The Sewing Machine Attachments Handbook by Charlene Philips.

Manalto

Thanks, Lyncat. Steps 1, 2 & 3 are precisely the method I've been following. My inability to walk while chewing gum may explain my lack of success.

DivaDee

I have made custom wedding gown for over 30 years and I still can't get the hang of that foot. I serge the edge and then fold it over and stitch it down. Nice finished edge on the back.

Manalto

UPDATE: I did this the easiest way possible - took it to someone else to do! The more I tried and failed with the narrow hemming foot and the more I thought about struggling with seven pairs of curtains with generous lengths of ruffle, the less appealing the job sounded. There's a shop not far away with an excellent reputation that agreed to do it for a fair price. (I had to wait a couple of weeks before she could get to it, hence my delay with the update.) When I brought in the fabric, I explained why I wasn't doing it myself. The tailor (seamstress? What's the proper term?) said she's been sewing for more than 30 years and she could never get that foot to work properly. ("Maybe I'm just impatient." she added.) I asked her how she did the narrow turn required for a ruffle and she described the technique in Prism99's post below. So, a belated thank you. (How do we know which suggestion is the right one for us when there are so many options?)

Curious about this method (and an inveterate glutton for punishment) I bought some more similar fabric and am in the midst of making a couple pairs of this style of curtain for the two kitchen windows in my house. The stitch-close-to-the-edge narrow hem technique is slow going, but so far, so good.