dixie_fried

I bought a darning foot on Amazon, a generic one as I initially wasn't sure I would enjoy FMQ enough to keep doing it. It has been sufficient in getting the job done--just a clear plastic oval with red lines.

I started meandering a baby quilt last night, got about 1/4 done and decided to stop for the night. When I went back to work on it today, About 6 or 8 inches of stippling, and the needle broke with a WHAM! I could see where it had hit the darning foot, on the back side, bending the needle so that it eventually broke from hitting the metal plate just in front of the needle hole. I thought maybe I had put too much tension on the needle with the way I had the quilt positioned, so I changed needle, moved the quilt and tried again. WHAM! another broken needle after 6-8 inches.

Of course it's Sunday and I probably won't find a darning foot at any of the chain stores. But, I wonder if a replacement foot will fix the issue? Not to mention, I need a new pack of quilting needles....

Anyone had this happen? How did you fix it? Does the metal darning foot work better than the acrylic one?

ckcowl

is the needle hitting the foot or the sewing machine plate? there are a couple different types of plates- one with a small round hole- one with a wider/oblong hole- used for decorative stitching- do you have the correct plate on the machine?
also, are your feed dogs down? sometimes if they are up/engaged- the act of pulling/pushing the fabric fighting against the feed dogs function can cause the needle to be pulled out of placement.
I realize (generic) feet are less expensive---but truly not compared to the cost of repairs needed after the damage they cause to the machine.

Tartan

The needle doesn't sound like it hit the plastic darning foot or it would have broken. If the needle is hitting the needle plate you may be putting too much pull/push on your fabric sandwich. Check to make sure the foot is attached properly and hasn't worked loose from FMQ. Hopefully the bent/broken needle hasn't messed up the timing on your machine.

dixie_fried

From what I can see, the needle hit the foot causing the needle to bend forward--then hit the needle plate in front of the hole. The machine only came with the oblong hole needle plate.
Feed dogs are down.

I'm not really vigorous about my pulling/pushing, but, I wondered if the movement was pulling the needle and causing it to bend and hit the foot and then the plate.
I checked the foot--it had not worked loose.
I'm going to go check and see if the machine will sew regular stitches to make sure the timing is not off.

Thanks for the replies so far!

dixie_fried

The timing seems fine. It sewed all it's stitches beautifully with a regular all purpose foot.
I thought I would try the FMQ foot again and really watch it move to see if I could identify the problem. I really think it's the foot...the shaft that attaches to the bar is plastic. The whole thing bends and bounces around. Of course the needle broke again...this time it broke into 3 pieces, the middle one flew out and hit me in the chest.
I'm throwing it out and buying one specific to Singer.

ewecansew

I don't think it is the foot. It may just be the wrong one for your machine. Have you got the piece over the needle screw so it works with the needle as it goes up and down? I am trying to figure it out as you say it was working last night.

MaggieBB

I bought a genaric foot for my machine and had the same broblem you are describing, after checking, found the angle
was not right, I think you have the right idea, buy a foot spacificly for the machine you have and hopefully everything will be OK!

tjradj

I've done this on my steel darning foot a couple of times. It usually happens when I just starting after a full stop. It is just me moving my fabric too fast before the machine gets up to speed. You don't have to tug very hard to pull the needle to the side enough for it to hit the foot. If you happen to be pulling when the needle is up - wham!
Now I try to make the effort to get the machine up to speed before moving the fabric.
BTW, have you modified your foot like Leah Day does? It really helps for visibility. Check this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APD6s7PwoqU

dixie_fried

I had used the foot a bunch of times before, and left it as it was when I quit for the night last night. I double checked how it was installed, even took it off and reattached it to make sure.

Which angle did you find was not right? Was this because it was installed wrong, or just not the right foot? Did you replace it?
I will try to be more careful, even after I locate a new foot--no luck on that at any chain stores today. I will try the LQS's tomorrow.
If I can't find a foot specific to my machine, will it hurt to try the "BigFoot"?

Thanks again for your help!

irishrose

If you have a short shank machine, then any decent ss foot should work. I bought a Janome walking foot and FMQ foot for my Elna and they fit very well.