SuzeC

Hi all,

I'm working on my first quilt, which is a tshirt quilt. I've been using my mom's old singer stylist 457 so far, but I've been reading about walking foot. As far as I can tell, there isn't one for this model. So, my question is, do I need to use a walking foot? I just want to do straight line quilting for now. Nothing too fancy just yet. I appreciate any help/advice you can provide.

Thanks! Happy quilting

Suze

quiltingcandy

A walking foot is so helpful! I use mine all the time, even when I am piecing a lot of the time - just feeds the top and bottom fabric at the same time.

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

A walking foot is helpful, but not required. There are many styles of universal walking feet available, so you might find one that fits your machine. Someone on here will know just what you need.

SuzeC

Thanks! I've been trying to find a walking foot for my machine this afternoon, but I'm not having much luck. I mainly did a Google search, and looked on Amazon and ebay. Any recommendations on other sources? There's a local Singer store a few towns over that I'll call tomorrow too.

earthwalker

I sew on vintage machines, sometimes I use a walking foot, sometimes not....depends on the project. You can buy "generic" feet, you just need to measure your shank (short shank or long shank) and then if it is a clip on or screw on. Check out ebay or maybe even members here could help. I don't think I've paid more than $20.00 and haven't had a dud one, yet.

Shelbie

A universal walking foot made for a short shank straight (it's not a slant Singer) should work perfectly on your machine. Most sewing machine stores should carry them.

SuzeC

Ok. Thanks! I really didn't want to have to buy a new machine.

I have one more question. I wasn't sure if I had a low or high shank. I measured from the base of the presser foot (when it's down) to the hole that the screw attaches to. It looks to be around 1"- 1 1/8 inches. I've read some websites that say it's a high, and others say it's a low. Any ideas? I'm a newbie so I'm still learning.

nativetexan

How did you baste the quilt? If you used spray basting, and used fusible interfacing on the t-shirt fabric, it should hold up well to stitching, with or without a walking foot.

nativetexan

"Measure the shank with the presser foot lowered. The shank is the distance between the bottom of the foot and the screw. The measurement on a low shank machine is three quarters of an inch and on a high shank machine is one and one quarter inches."


Read more: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6153221_lo...#ixzz2xaOD1JUz

SuzeC

Thanks! I did use fusible interfacing on the t-shirts. I still need to finish the back of the quilt so I haven't assembled it just yet - hopefully it will be ready next week. I did use a flannel fabric for the sashing and I didn't use interfacing on that.

Thanks for the article. That does help!