I just started using my walking foot. Takes a bit to get used to, doesn't it? So far I am thrilled with the results. If anyone has hints for success I am more than open to any and all suggestions.

I am making a quilted fabric which is going to become a "vintage" apron, reversible with a pocket. Vintage is from the sixties, yikes I'm getting old. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll let you know where I got the pattern. I figured that making a quilted piece would be a good trial for using the walking foot since I am just making straight stitches. Kitty cats on one side and cherries on the other, for my niece who has three kitties.

So hope this is encouraging to anyone who is considering using a walking foot.

I'd love to get hints on a walking foot too. I've tried mine a few times, but still very novice.

LOL - Maybe instead of a baby boomer, I'll start referring to myself as Vintage!

Ok, I'm not all that new to quilting but...what is the difference between a regular foot and a walking foot? I know the darning foot and button hole but not so much a Walking foot? Can anyone help??

At first I was simply not impressed with a walking foot until I bought a Janome6600P. The walking foot is partially built in and easy to change over. It is FANTASTIC...no puckers....nice advancing...even feeding!I use it for applying binding also!

When I bought my Husqvarna Viking in the mid 90's I was excited to get the walking foot for it...what a disappointment!
Puckers, uneven feeding, you name it. Later they came out with an improved version and I finally "got" how great a walking foot was!

A walking foot has feed dogs on the top of the foot so it works with the feed dogs underneath and pulls the quilt sandwich through evenly. At least that is what it is suppose to do and so far it is working for me as advertised. I tried without the walking foot and had to rip out the seams because it was puckered all over the reverse side and the sandwich shifted. I though I had spent money for something I didn't really need, but I'm glad I did as it is working as advertised. I just need more practice with it to get to a point where I can do more than straight seams and stiitching in the ditch.

Okay dummy me. The feed dogs on the walking foot are under the foot, not on top; but whereas feet are smooth and the feed dogs in the machine pull the fabric through, in a walking foot you have two sets of feed dogs pulling the fabric through. Does that make sense?

Betty, that's usually the only time I use my walking foot - straight lines or very gentle curves. For curvier patterns like meandering or spirals or leaves or whatever, it's SO slow using a walking foot as you would have to pivot every time you want to change direction. Then it would be much easier to free-motion quilt using a darning foot. (Although it does take more practice to FM quilt.)

The other great time to use a walking foot is when attaching binding - everything feeds in much nicer and no more puckered edges on your quilt!

Hi BettyGee, Please show us your Vintage apron. using a walking foot is certainly helpful.

i paid $25 for my walking foot over 12 years ago and i LOVE it. i had tried quilting a small quilt without a walking foot and it was miserable. i even use walking foot when sewing just two blocks together if it's already on the machine. love it!!!

Can someone provide a website as to where to get, prices and how to use a walking foot. I just use my regular foot for stitch in the ditch and it seems to do fine, however if there is something better out there I would like to try it. From what I have seen they look big and complicated. I have a Bernina Activa 135 sewing machine that I love, it seems to me that their walking feet are over $100.00 and I am just not willing to invest that much without knowing if it will help.

Walking feet are also great for sashing and borders too. It can stop the rippling/wave effects :D:D:D

I use my walking foot whenever I am piecing flannel, attaching binding, straight-line quilting, and decorative stitch quilting. and, God bless the person who invented the walking foot. :-)

Thank you so much for the tips. I want to try free motion, but I don't have enough confidence to try that yet. The use of the walking foot for binding is fantastic! That always gives me a fit and it makes sense that if it feeds evenly then the binding won't be puckered. Thank you, thank you.

Will do. Will scan the pattern and instructions and post. It is really a cute apron, very basic and my husband has me making nine of them for all the women in our family. Oh, ten if I make one for myself. I love him more than life, but he cracks me up when he makes plans like that for me.

The walking foot is a perfect tool for this project.

www.sewingpartsonline.com has just about anything you could ever think of for sewing machines. I just ordered a new set screw for my Pfaff and ten extra bobbins, very good prices and shipping is very reasonable. Also sewingmachinesplus.com is another very good site. Both of these sites are secure. I would not pay over $50 for a walking foot and that is on the high side. A walking foot for my Pfaff was $24.99 on sewingpartsonline.com. Hope this helps.

I am very happy I bought the walking foot. It is great for quilting. I also just repaired our American flag and as it is polyester and slippery, the walking foot grabbed it top and bottom and pulled it through just great. Another member just recommended using it for putting on the binding and I can't wait to try that. I have learned more on this Board in two months than I've learned in the last ten years.

Betty, YES that makes sense! Thank you for the explanation. I sort thought it was something like that but wasn't sure. Now I have something else to put on my wish list! :thumbup:

I use my walking foot when doing anything that has a heavier fabric and when quilting tabletoppers etc..
I think it was worth what I paid for it.

I had said I would post the pattern for the "vintage" apron that I am making; however, thanks to a fellow member who reminded me that it is a copyright protected item I can not do that. You can find the pattern and instructions in the December/January 2011 edition of Quilt magazine on page 44. Hope this helps any of you who would like to make the apron, it really is very cute. Enjoy!

I am curious why you would buy a walking foot for a Pfaff. I thought they all had the even feed built in.

I find this really interesting.

My machine has a built in walking foot and I use it for just about everything. It is great for piecing. I very rarely have seams that don't match, etc.

Bernina walking foot is definitely worth the money! I use it on my Virtuosa 155. It will cost you between $100 and $150 unless you are lucky enough to find one on ebay or something. Mine came with the machine when I bought it used at my LQS - I wasn't impressed at first because I didn't know what I had-LOL. Once I used it I was thrilled to have it!!

Some of the early mechanical Pfaff's didn't have this feature.

I didn't use a walking foot til I bought my Janome 6600P too. Now I am loving it. I use it for just about everything!!

thanks, lab fairy, I didn't know that.

Me too! My 1471 Pfaff has a built in walking foot and all you do is pull it down into place. I use it for everything! (except FMQ).

Hey sewTinker, you are right! What is it about flannel that needs a walking foot? I never had one, did "ok" with alignments on quilting cottons and garments. Now I have the Pfaff-esque built-in walking foot on the Babylock Quest Plus. LOVE IT! But just tonight my 7 year old started his first quilt on his new Brother HS 2000 (which he has to share with his brother). It's a flannel four patch, and was pinned and everything, but still stretched. I thought it was the new machine or him, but maybe it's the flannel. We LOVE flannel, so maybe need a walking foot for the Brother. So glad I read your post!

I recently bought a Bernina and spent the extra money for the walking foot and I absolutely love, love it!! I pull it out for everything.... I use it for any project over 2 layers or anything that I just can't get to lay flat....I would encourage anyone who doesn't have one to at least try it...
There are some low cost ones out there that just screw on to any machine...they are a pain but made me realize that I needed to invest in a good one esp. for my machine.

My Pfaff is old, dependable and wonderful; but it is old and by today's machines abilities - antiquated. That said, it does pretty much everything I want it to do and with the purchase of the walking foot it now does quilting. I just ordered a free motion foot for it last night, for $28, and now if I can learn how to use it I think I'm set. So for a little over $50 I have all that I think I will need to be a happy quilter. I drool over the new machines when I am at Rocky Mountain Sewing, but unless I hit the lottery it ain't going to happen. Love that so many folks do use, and like, their walking feet.

With a walking foot, both layers of fabric are fed through the machine independantly so there are no puckers/pleats, etc. A normal foot only feeds through from one side so that the top layer gets 'pushed', resulting in problems - puckers/pleats!

The walking foot works great on flannel, keeping everything lined up. Janome has several different 'feet' available for the 6600P including a 1/4" foot and a 'stitch in the ditch foot' that work with their acufeed system. I wouldn't stitch multiple layers of fabric without one.

Me, too! (Love it, I mean!) Use my walking for for pretty much everything except free motion!

I have a Pfaff with IDT (built in walking foot) that I always use when piecing and adding binding. It is great and I can also then use my 1/4" foot with it. Great invention. I am a Viking lover, but do resort to the Pfaff for some things.

I would check with Nancy's Notions or Clotilde. You can use any low shank foot with a bernina if you get an adaptor. You can find adaptors at a dealer or on some web sites. The good news is you only need one adaptor because it can be easily changed over to another foot. It is just there with a screw. As for the walking foot, I do have a bernina, and a bernina walking foot. I use mine all the time and find it invaluable for long straight seams, clothing construction and stitch in the ditch. The only thing I do not use it for is free motion quilting, zippers and such. I have lots of specialty feet, and though they are spendy, I only get one a year on my birthday, I use them a lot and find they make my sewing more pleasurable. You might ask Santa for a walking foot for Christmas.

I have a Bernina 155 and my walking foot came bundled with my machine. I love mine and use it all the time for binding. I have also used it for straight line quilting (Bow Tuck Bag, for example). I know it is expensive for the Bernina, but it does make a difference. I've read here on the board that some ladies use the walking foot for all their sewing and never take it off the machine.

A walking foot pushes the fabric through under the needle just like the feed dogs. I use mine all the time when I am using more than one layer of fabric. Would be lost without it.

I love the walking foot for quilting. Another use for it is hemming jeans. My sister needed some jeans hemmed and I was lazy and didn't remove the walking foot. It worked great and went over the thickness like butter.

I love my walking foot I could not do without it.

A good book to have to learn to machine quilt with your walking foot is Foolproof Machine Quilting by Mary Mashuta. I just finished doing a baby blanket using her instructions. Lot of fun.