A Word About Walking Feet

Raise your hand if you want to know more about walking feet! You're at the right place then :) New quilters often have questions such as "What is a Walking Foot and What is it Used for?" and "Which Walking Foot Should I Buy?" So to answer a few of those questions:

WHAT IS A WALKING FOOT

.................................................... 

A walking foot is a sewing machine part used to help feed thick fabric through a machine. It has an extra set of feed-dogs on the bottom of the foot to help guide layers of fabric through evenly.

WHAT IS A WALKING FOOT USED FOR?

.........................................................................  

A walking foot is a quilter's best friend. It is used for 2 steps in the quilting process:

1. Straight line machine quilting.

The walking foot is a cousin to the darning foot (the darning foot is used for free motion quilting that is not for straight lines) The walking foot makes the thick *quilt-sandwich feed through the machine more smoothly. 

2. Binding.

A walking foot is used when machine attaching a quilt binding. The walking foot helps the *quilt-sandwich run through the machine in an efficient manner when sewing on the pesky binding. Kidding about that pesky part but not about the efficiency ;)

*A quilt sandwich consists of three basted (aka safety-pinned) layers: the pieced quilt top, batting, and backing fabric.

WHICH WALKING FOOT SHOULD I BUY?
...........................................................................

The real question here is what walking foot should you NOT buy. The number one rule is DO NOT buy a walking foot with a plastic hook that attaches to your screw, buy a metal one. (Does anyone have a name for that thingamajig?!) Both of our plastic walking feet jammed on the first day of use. The metal foot has been our best friend through it all!

Another suggestion is to buy a walking foot with a guide. This helps to keep your lines straight. It's kinda important...just sayin'

Note: Please ignore the plastic hooky-thing we know we just discussed (Rule number one is still in force). This is the only picture we had of the guide...so just go with it :)

Rule number three is pretty easy. Make sure to buy a foot that works for your brand of sewing machine. Most walking feet are universal so don't sweat it too much. And have fun with your new gizmo!