quilters: do i need this special machine foot?

artyeva

i'm making a quilt - well - quilting an abstract wall hanging piece really. i have all my applique done and am ready to quilt the front and back and batting together on my sewing machine. do i need a special foot like this?

my [lidl] sewing machine has an optional darning plate and though i can fit it on i can't see how to lower the dogs. am i right in thinking if i don't want everything to pucker i need to lower the dogs, use this darning plate and the special foot, then just feed through the fabric by hand? i'm only going to be quilting in straight lines, not any fancy free motion swirly stuff.

any help appreciated... i'm out of my depth here.

mic728jac

You can actually do it without it but if you plan to make it your as your long time hobby (or you're probably doing it for your business) you definitely need it. But if you want it to make your quilting easier, then it's fine.

artyeva

well, this is a small one but i also have an idea for a massive one for an upstairs wall, and someone's asked me to make one for their sitting room so maybe i'll invest. will the generic cheapie fit all machines?

for now though, i can't find any way of lowering the dogs on this machine, just this plate that snaps on over them. but when i put it on and start the machine it flies off because the dogs rise. any ideas, or does my machine just not have this function? [i've read the instructions but can't find anything. it's from lidl so not very detailed instructions!]

wmpdd3

Is your machine a Singer? Thats the exact foot I have for my Singer for free hand embriodary / fre hand quilting.

It fits any machine that has a shank.

AFAIK, you either lower the dogs OR cover with the plate, my machine is covered with the plate.

If you dont use this foot, you have to plan where your lines will be and try stop your quilt from bunching. I tried years ago to do randomly spaced coloured lines of sewing along a quilt and it ended up all bunched up.

artyeva

alas, no. singer was out of my budget, it's a silvercrest from lidl

i've ordered that foot on e-bay but thought i'd have a go today anyway before it arrived. leaving the dogs up/free to move works, i'm not too bothered about the bunching/puckering cause it actually suits this piece.

but... i'm having issues with the bobbin thread bunching up on the underside. it'll be fine for one or two lines then start bunching again. googling tells me this is a tension thing, but adjusting the tension doesn't seem to have any effect on it. the issue seems random. thought it might be the needles blunting maybe, but even with a brand new needle it still happens. uggh. i wish i had one of those ten gazillion squid machines you see on american websites that does everything automatically :rolleyes:

cuilteanna

If you get into elaborate quilting designs you'll definitely want one of those feet. I'd one machine where I had to tape a piece of card over the feed dogs but it was grand that way. Free-motion quilting (without feed dogs moving the fabric for you) is a skill and can take some time to perfect - my stitches can still be a bit variable lengths - but you can do amazing designs that way.

For straight lines you want the feed dogs to help move the quilt and a walking foot makes a huge difference keeping the layers from puckering.

Even the mega-expensive machines have plenty of tension problems too! Trying to solve them is always tough... change needles, re-thread, sometimes even just changing the bobbin helps. Good luck!

wmpdd3

but... i'm having issues with the bobbin thread bunching up on the underside. it'll be fine for one or two lines then start bunching again. googling tells me this is a tension thing, but adjusting the tension doesn't seem to have any effect on it. the issue seems random. thought it might be the needles blunting maybe, but even with a brand new needle it still happens. uggh. i wish i had one of those ten gazillion squid machines you see on american websites that does everything automatically

Mine does this too, no rhyme or reason to it except sometimes after I sew something too thick.

I fix it by re-threading the main thread.
I set the tension to the max (10) and