Walking Foot Question
 

Since the walking foot can be used for so many things, I was wondering if any of you leave it on your
machine most of the time for general sewing. If not, is there a reason? Thanks.
Linda in Ky

I don't leave it on because back stitching with it usually jams or breaks my needle. It's okay for a stitch or two but the feed dogs on the foot do not like reverse sewing.

No, I don't leave it on. They're bulky, louder than a regular foot and get in the way of seeing behind the foot.

I love it for binding the quilt, and making quilted items like purses, backpacks, ragquilts, but for the piecing, I use my quarter inch foot. I do a much better job. The walking foot I have is too bulky, and noisy as said above. Once in a while I will sew a seam to add to a binding or that last part, stitching the binding together, but still rather use my other foot. I use walking foot, to save time in that last step, but really prefer the other foot, if I have the other machine out and handy, I will not use the walking foot even then.

The joys of a Pfaff. It's built in and I use it all the time.

I use my walking foot for sewing on the quilt binding and for some stitching in the ditch. I also use it when sewing velvet or velveteen and when matching stripes or plaids. Since most of my sewing is piecing and FMQ, I prefer my 1/4" foot or my BSR.

I agree with Scissor Queen ... I traded in my Brother for a Pfaff because of the built in walking foot. Love that feature and use it as much as possible! But when I had my Brother, I used the walking foot only when absolutely necessary.

I use my walking foot only for binding and quilting. I have dual feed on my Bernina if I want to use it for long seams.

I have the built in walking foot on my Janome and I use it pretty much all the time because it feeds the fabric so evenly.

If I had the kind of foot that had to be attached ... I wouldn't leave it on.

yes, gotta love the pfaff- my other machine doesn't have the built in walking foot and it takes me time to put it on.

I guess i'm the oddball. I leave it on and it pieces just fine. I guess i'm just too lazy to change the feet!

Ah, the joys of a Janome ;-) Comes in very handy, very quickly, and easily.

I have a Pfaff and it is built in and I leave it engaged all the time, couldn't do without it. My Brother has the separate attachment and it is a pain to take off and on so I always go to the Pfaff.

when I used to use my mechanical I used to leave it on, in fact I got it out to make sure it still runs and it still had the walking foot on. I have all brothers and don't find it cumbersome to take on and off only takes a minute and its really simple so can't see the point in leaving them on unless you have machines you use less and just want one available. Now that I have a muvit foot haven't used my walking foot since, it operates smoother. I might leave it on for a project like bags have a lot of layers of batting and thick seams so I might use it for that, but for normal piecing I just use my 1/4" foot

A walking foot should not be run at high speed, so it is not on my "go to" machine (Pfaff 130). However, I usually keep one on my Singer 301 and only take it off when my neighbor girls come over to sew. Then I put the finger guard on with the regular foot!

I generally leave it on my Janome 6600 because it built in. As I only use my MC10000 for embroidery I never put that one on. I also have my original Janome 5024 and have pieced with the walking foot on the machine. I think it's a personal choice.

Actually I do not use my WF very often even for binding or SID. I have a Brothers 1500s that you can adjust the presser foot tension so I usually use my 1/4" with no problem. All that said, I have tried using my walking foot for regular peicing and found that it does not work very well since it seems to be made for more bulk such as binding or sandwich quilting. There may be a difference between built-in WF and one that you attack that allows you to sew regular fabric easily.

I *would* leave mine on all the time, but it doesn't give me a true quarter-inch seam...:thumbdown:

I leave mine on almost all of the time on my Pfaff.

I'm with you, DogHouseMom! Love my Janome with the built in and I use it a lot.

That's the beauty of having more than one machine....I keep my walking foot on one of my Vikings all the time. Each machine is used for a specific job, one has the 1/4" foot, one is used just for embroidery, one is used for bobbin-winding and specific thread colors, etc. Saves me lots of time.

I don't use my walking foot much to be honest. It's big and bulky and I'm too cheap to buy one with a quarter inch guide! Lol* I find if I starch well that I don't really need it for most projects that I do. :)

I only use mine for straight line quilting and sewing on the binding. Otherwise I don't use it.

I agree that the Pfaff with its built in walking foot is very nice, I use that feature on mine with general sewing because of the even feed. However...... I don't sew on my Pfaff for quilting much. I'm hooked on my Vintage Ladies and I piece with them more often. I do not use the walking foot until I get to a place in the process to need it like quilting or binding. I've broken one walking foot. Too expensive to use all the time if you have to replace them.

I leave mine on all the time. Haven't seen any need to change it out. Seems to make everything feed more evenly. Of course I don't do any fancy quilting yet either. Works fine on gentle curves.
The quarter inch foot I got wasn't! So I just figured out where on the screw that holds the face plate on was a quarter inch and go by that.

Wish I had one that was on automatically. I love using it but it is tiresome switching back and forth. Didn't know there was a machine that had one built in!

Me too. :thumbup:

My new machine is a Babylock Crescendo. The walking foot is huge and must be plugged into the machine for the machine's computer to operate. I don't use it often because the Crescendo seems to feed both layers evenly--even when quilting straight lines.

I have the built in on my Janome and I use it most of the time.

I just used mine for the 1st. time. I love it. I wished I would have tried it out sooner. I need to heed more to what I learn on here. You guys are a wealth of knowledge.

I leave my walking foot on when sewing thicker projects, like binding potholders, SID or straight line quilting and especially when making bags that have the fusible fleece, as I think it does a better job. If I just have a little sewing to do and don't want to bother taking the foot off and on, I will just use the walking foot, but I use it mainly for quilting.

Yup! Gotta love the Pfaff!

I guess having one built in, is something I will make sure my new machine has.

The Jerome 6600 has a built in walking foot that is also easy to disengage

Thank you all so much! Love, Linda

Ditto....I bring out my old Pfaff 7510 and it doesn't slip one bit when sewing the "sandwich". Love it.

pfaf
 

:thumbup::thumbup: :D DottieBug

Love my Pfaff!
 

Scissor Queen, I agree! Love my Pfaff! Sewing with it is a joy!