Problem with walking foot on Singer 301
 

Help. I'm having a problem getting my stitch length long enough to try to quilt. I purchased the correct walking foot from the sewing shop. I removed the thread cutter before I attached the walking foot. When I try to stitch on my sample, my quilt sandwich will hardly feed through and I'm getting a teeny tiny stitch - maybe 20 stitches per inch or so. I've cleaned and oiled my machine, put in a new needle, rethreaded, and put in a new bobbin, and fiddled with the tension. I don't know what else to do. There must be some sort or adjustment I need to make, right? I'm giving it up for tonight and will start fresh tomorrow. Any suggestions will be most appreciated. Thanks.

Nancy

Any walking foot for the 301 currently on the market doesn't do what it's engineered to do-work in conjunction with the feed dogs on the machine. Just because it "fits" on the machine doesn't mean it actually works like it should....Look at the width of the walking foot and you will see that the feed dogs are wider than the feed dogs on the 301. The teeth don't mesh with the feed dogs, which is what walking feet are supposed to do. Many people simply lessen the pressure on the pressure foot and use a regular foot. You can try releasing some of the pressure on the foot to see if that helps.

have never needed a walking foot on my 301A........it actually feeds better than any machine with a walking foot because of the slant needle.........you do not need a walking foot with a 301. IMHO

Nancy,

I don't have the Singer specs for the 301, if there is any, but put a factory foot on the machine and check the clearance between the bottom of the foot and the needle plate, feed dogs down. It should be over 1/4". I've had several machines that had the presser foot bar set too low.

The spec for the 401A and some others is .295". Ours was just under a 1/4" (.250"). Surprisingly that small distance made a huge difference in how the machine worked and fed the fabric.

The presser foot height will also affect the way some attachments work. Or so the service manual says.

Joe

You did not say that you adjusted the stitch length. That is done on the right with the post-type lever that runs in the vertical channel. You may have to loosen it, which you do by unscrewing the outermost circular part. Twenty stitches to an inch would be close to the zero point, which is used for free motion quilting. Move the post lever down toward the bottom of the machine to make the stitch bigger.

You do need the correct walking foot for a slant machine, and specifically, for that machine. There are actually two that work. The Even Flow foot is my second choice, I don't know that the best one even has a particular name.

I find the Singer 301 to be the best all-around quilting machine and my favorite of all time. It is good for piecing, great at line quilting with a walking foot, and the best machine at free motion quilting I've ever used or tested. Be sure to oil it every 8 hours of sewing with exactly one drop of oil at each point indicated in the manual.

Cricket

I bought a new(?) vintage Singer walking foot for my 301 and it works like a charm. I did screw the feed dogs down slightly so I could navigate the fabric underneath the foot easier. I don't know about the generic foot. I got mine on ebay for about $15.00 still in the original box with directions. It looked like it was never used. Try lessening the pressure on the foot and screwing down the feed dogs slightly.
Linda

For all of you ladies who bought the walking foot. Take a closer look. You should see that the feed dogs on the foot do NOT fit the feed dogs of the machine. Just an FYI....

EUREKA!!! YIPPEEE!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

You folks are GREAT!!! I looked at the width of the walking foot and it did not match up with my feed dogs - just like you said, Candace. So, I removed the walking foot, attached my regular foot, and then lessoned the pressure of the pressure foot. I never would have guessed it would have been such an easy fix. Now I can spend the rest of the day ( at least until supper-time) sewing. Happy Girl! Y'all are the best! Thanks!

Nancy

Enjoy your 301:> I love all 5 of mine!!