Sewing with a walking foot: My secret weapon when I want to sew sticky, thick, elastic, or slippery fabrics. Read now how you can achieve a perfect stitch pattern with it!
What is a walking foot?
A walking foot is a presser foot that you can attach to your machine instead of the universal presser foot to work with voluminous, sticky, slippery, or multi-layered sewing projects.
Sometimes the walking foot is also called an even feed foot. It is very effective when it comes to sewing materials that are difficult to feed, because it ensures even fabric feeding.
What does a walking foot look like?
The first thing you notice is that the walking foot is much larger than a conventional presser foot. This is because there is quite a bit of mechanics inside the plastic housing. The walking foot needs this to work in sync with the sewing machine.
The walking feet of my Janome look like this:
The Janome Horizon comes with a narrow and a wide walking foot as standard. That is no surprise, because the machine is specifically intended for patchwork and quilting. Areas where you often have to deal with multi-layered or voluminous sewing projects.
What types of walking feet are there?
Here in this post, I am showing you my walking foot from Janome. It is not snapped on but screwed onto the needle bar. It is an example of a classic dynamic walking foot.
However, there are also electronic walking feet that are additionally connected to the sewing machine via a cable. The foot is then controlled via this connection.
In addition, there are so-called integrated walking feet like on my JUKI UX8. At Juki, this type of walking foot is called Smartfeed. At Pfaff, it is called IDT. These feed aids are permanently installed and are pulled down behind the presser foot (which has a special gap for this) when needed.
And this is how the Smartfeed is engaged. Simply pull it down and let it click into place:
Sewing with the walking foot: How does it work?
The walking foot is equipped with small plastic teeth that fit exactly into the teeth of the sewing machine's feed dog.
The difficulty when feeding sticky fabrics is that the material sticks so firmly to the presser foot that it simply won't move forward. The seams become crooked and uneven.
Some sewing machines have an even feed balance control. A big word. With it, you can test at what speed the top and bottom layers of fabric are being fed.
What does the walking foot do with difficult fabrics?
The fabric is clamped between the feed dog and the walking foot, lifted, and fed. After each stitch, the walking foot releases the material, grips it again, and feeds it further. In this way, you can also perfectly sew coated fabrics, faux leather, vinyl, or oilcloth.
When sewing jersey and other elastic fabrics, the fabric layers occasionally shift, the fabric is stretched, ripples, or the fabric pattern shifts (especially ugly with striped fabrics!).
With a walking foot, multiple layers of fabric can also be sewn beautifully and evenly. Because beautiful seams also mean: even fabric feed.
What types of walking feet are there?
There are narrow and wide walking feet. Here you can choose which width best suits your sewing project.
For a "normal" seam, I would choose a narrow walking foot for the sake of clarity. For a quilt or a high-pile fabric, I would use the wide presser foot.
As a third option, there is an open-toe walking foot. It is completely open at the front and is excellent for sewing tasks where you want a clear view of the sewing area.
You can use it, for example, for "stitch-in-the-ditch," i.e., quilting in the seam shadow.
How is the presser foot pressure adjusted with a walking foot?
If your machine has adjustable presser foot pressure, you should definitely test on a scrap piece how reducing the pressure affects things.
Carefully reducing the pressure can ensure that the fabric is fed more evenly and the stitch pattern becomes nicer.
Which fabrics is a walking foot suitable for?
It is perfect for the following materials and sewing projects:
- Faux leather
- Plush
- Velour
- Faux fur
- Voluminous sewing projects (e.g., patchwork quilt)
- Vinyl and PVC
- Jersey fabrics
- Striped fabrics
- Interfacing
- Sweatshirt fabric
- Minky
- Viscose fabrics
- Knit fabrics
- Plaid fabrics (pattern does not shift!)
- Fleece
- Cork fabric
- Leather
- Ripstop
How do you attach a walking foot?
First, unscrew the holder of your presser foot.
Unscrew the screw enough so that you can easily hook the walking foot onto the thread.
Hold the walking foot in place while you tighten the screw a little.
Then tighten the screw firmly with the screwdriver.
Select the needle suitable for the fabric used, e.g., a jersey needle for jersey fabrics.
And you are ready to start sewing!
Can you also sew twin-needle seams with it?
You can also use a twin needle if you want to sew a twin-needle seam.
This allows for fantastic topstitching and ripple-free hems. You should definitely try that out!
Do I need a walking foot?
I won't kid you: If your sewing machine didn't come with a walking foot*, it is definitely an investment. For my Brother sewing machine, the original walking foot cost around 40 euros.
However, I must admit: It was worth every cent! I have sewn an incredible amount with it! It actually saved me a lot of sewing frustration!
If you are considering buying a walking foot, you should find out which one is suitable for your machine. I advise against buying no-name products.
The right walking foot fits your sewing machine exactly. This ensures that the walking foot and feed dog work perfectly together. And that is the prerequisite for perfect seams.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you like!
Happy simple sewing,
your Sabine
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