Get To Know Your Presser Feet
by admin — 13 Comments » Lazies, Have you discovered the magic and versatility of your fun and funky sewing machine feet? Frankly, some of those feet intimidate me. Wouldn’t it be nice to be fluent in your feet? Well, I have two goodies to nudge you in that direction.
First up, sewing machine foot whisperer, Jo Leichte of Bernina makes her feet sing, or so it seems. Jo is a Sewing Machine Specialist for Bernina sewing machines and if you haven’t already discovered this gem of a sewist – start following her.
Bernina Gets Lazy
Sometimes it’s easiest to learn a new technique or tip in the context of making an actual project. Jo recently made my Miranda Day Bag (LGD123) for her travels and she detailed the ins and out of how she used some specialty feet during her Lazy creative adventure on the Bernina blog.
Jo’s Miranda Day Bag.
Jo’s Miranda Day Bag
Jo chronicled the making of her Miranda in four blog posts. When you hop over the the Bernina blog, this link will show you all four posts, in reverse order. Simply start at the bottom and work you way up the page to follow along with Jo’s project. The final post includes a great overview of what’s in Jo’s bag. I love peeking inside to see how people use their bags!
http://www.berninausablog.com/tag/miranda
Some Highlights
Below, Jo used two different feet for custom details. She couched some beautiful fibers on the flap closure and made a cool piping detail for the center front.
Nancy Zieman Online Videos
Finally, how about sitting back and watching some feet in action? I love the three part ‘Fancy Footworks’ video series by Nancy Zieman on her show Sewing With Nancy.
You can watch these, as well as many other videos, online at Nancy’s site. Start here with the first part of the series. All three videos are in the Nancy’s Favorites category. Nancy also offers a companion workbook for the series.
Enjoy your feet!
Joan
Photos courtesy of Jo Leichte of Bernina USA Blog
[tags]bernina, sewing, presser feet[/tags]
I received that workbook for Christmas and it is fabulous. Jo thank you so much for sharing your Miranda with us, she is a stunner! I love the stitches you used.
Penny D in Chesapeake
I have mastered just a couple of my feet but the edge stitch foot alone is worth the weight of my Bernina in gold. Projects have a professional touch that you just can’t get eyeballing it! I’ll be looking at the videos for other ideas. Love that couching!
Thank you Joan for the info on becoming foot fluent.
I have a Janome MC 9000, but I am sure the feet work the same way, and will visit the other sites to see what i can learn.!
I have a Pfaff 2046 and ABSOLUTELY love it! I am a feet gadget addict and buy, buy, buy but don’t really get to use them all, they just sit. Thanks for restoring my interest in them. I’m sure to get CREATIVE now!
Joan – You’re the BEST!
Kim
Cheyenne, WY
Do these feet work on Husqvarna machine’s
Hi Pat,
I don’t think the Bernina feet work on other brand machines due to their connection mechanism.
The best thing to do is check with your local machine dealer and see what they carry that works with your sewing machine model. Husqvarna has tons of feet. Go check ’em out!
Joan
Check with your Viking dealer. I have a Foot Book purchased at my Viking Dealer that describes the use of the feet offerred by Husqvarna Viking for their machines. I have found it very useful to have.
Your blog is one of my favorites. I have a Singer and a new Necchi.
I used to sew more than I do now. I love your purses.
Alene
HI QUESTION WHERE DID ALENE MOULTON GET A NEW NECCHI SEWING MACHINE? I THOUGHT THAT THEY DIDNT MAKE THEM ANYMORE I USE TO HAVE ONE IN THE 1960s AND IT WAS RUINED IN A HOUSE FIRE DOLORES
I AM LOVING YOUR PATTERNS! A few days ago I made the little runaround bag. It was SO adorable and was amazingly fast and easy to sew that I made another one that same evening. If I had more zippers I probably would have kept sewing! Now I am hooked. The next one is the Miranda bag. My oldest daughter just became a doctor and she needs a bag to carry her charts and binders in! She was SO excited to pick out fabrics. I do have a question though. I volunteer at the local nursing homes and would love to make “walker bags.” Do you have a pattern for those or could you use you ‘mad’ skills as my teenagers would say…to develop one? Your patterns are easy and breezy so it would be great to zip about a zillion of those up for my wonderful elderly buddies. Suzanne
Hi Suzanne,
I’m glad to hear you are enjoying my patterns!
Our Couch Caddy pattern lends itself to a walker caddy with two easy modifications. When finished, the caddy will hang over a horizontal bar of the walker and be secured at the sides with ribbons/ties.
To do so, make the caddy as instructed until you fold under the end to create an opening for a paperback book or magazine. You can still construct it that way, or fold it the other way and stitch the sides for a big pocket.
Next, attach lengths of ribbon as needed on all four corners of the caddy. Make the ribbon long enough to reach a nearby leg or support and tie ribbon at that support. Also, add shorter ribbons near the horizontal bar and tie just below the bar for extra stability.
Joan
I am trying to make a fabric braided basket and cannot find a presser foot that the rope will fit under. Do you have any suggestions.
Thanks,
Kathy
Sad, but the link for Nancy’s vids says the domain name is up so sale. Probably can still find them on YouTube.