annthreecats

I bought my walking foot over a year ago and I just started using it last night. I love it. It works great and I wish I had put it on the machine for straight stitch quilting a long time ago.

The sewing machine that I put it on is one that I use for piecing and other sewing but it does not FMQ. I was wondering, can I leave the walking foot on the machine all the time for regular straight stitch sewing and just remove it when I need the other speciality feet (buttonhole, zipper, etc.)?

Daylesewblessed

Sure. It can be very helpful in lots of straight sewing situations. I have a friend whose only machines are 3 FW's. She keeps a walking foot on one at all times.

I have been told by my sewing machine repair woman not to run the walking foot too fast and not to back stitch with it. For me the slower speed of the walking foot is a limitation for lots of sewing and long seam piecing.

Another precaution to take is checking the screws on your needlebar. With prolonged use, the forked arm works my needle screw loose, and the needle will fall out while sewing if I don't check it. Also, the screw holding the walking foot onto the shank can work itself loose. This does not happen to some people and it doesn't happen to me very often, but it is something I have to watch on my machine.

Enjoy your walking foot!

Dayle

nativetexan

my walking foot arm just sits on the needle screw. so no worries there. i do not use it all the time though because i use my quarter inch foot to piece usually. have fun!!

annthreecats

Thanks for that information Dayle. That's exactly what I was looking for to help me decide. Since it only takes a couple of minutes to put on the machine, I think I'll just put it on only when I need it.

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

Some machines can even backstitch with the walking foot, so you might want to find out. Mine does it beautifully which is nice for some things.

As Dayle said, it might occaisonally work your needle screw loose. I have had that happen. Sadly, I'm such a good I didn't notice for a few sections of chain piecing and then I saw it was not sewing. I didn't even look at anything just pulled out the bobbin assuming it was empty again. For a few seconds when I saw that bobbin with thread on it, I just couldn't imagine what was wrong. Nothing like sewing without a needle to make a girl feel dumb!

annthreecats

Thanks, Lisa. I just loved using the walking foot so much that I thought it would be okay to leave it on, but I think I'm going to take it off and only put it on when I need it. That way I don't have to worry about needles falling out and such. Goodness knows I have enough trouble keeping up with everything I'm doing when I'm sewing. hehehehe

Jingle

Also, I once had my FMQ/darning foot come loose and broke the needle. A small piece of the needle flew up and hit my right lens, I sure was glad I wear glasses, it could have turned out very badly for me. Always make sure screw for any and all feet are tight, especially for feet that are rarely changed.

Dolphyngyrl

Thats why its good to have a few back up machines. I left one on my cheapie machine for over a year just to quilt things. it was very convenient