TOP 5 PRESSER FEET FOR QUILTING
Your choice of presser foot to use when sewing can really make or break a project. There are tons of different ones- but what to choose? What works best for piecing doesn’t do well when it comes time to quilt your project.
Let’s dive into my top 5!
1. The 1/4 Inch Foot for piecing
This one will take your accuracy to another level. No more lining the fabric along the marks on the bed of your sewing machine! Just keep an eye on the fabric as it goes under the foot to make sure it’s lined up against the edge. They come with and without a guide on the edge, personally I use the edged one most! This foot usually has an ‘O’ on it across most brands.
2. The Straight Stitch Foot for piecing
This one has just a single hole for the needle to go through. No big gap that allows zig zag or other fancy stitch. I love this one for working with finer fabrics like Liberty lawn. If you’ve ever had fabric sucked down into the machine you know how annoying it is. This foot is going to help prevent that! Just beware – make sure to switch it out before doing a zig zag again or you’ll be saying goodbye to your needle.
3. The Walking Foot for quilting
This is for when you have your top, batting, and backing all basted together. What this foot does is grab the fabric from the top, kind of like having feed dogs on both sides. Make puckering a thing of the past! This foot makes sure everything feeds through at the same rate and holds together beautifully. The best ones come with a removable and adjustable guide bar, which is amazing for keeping your rows if you’re doing a bunch of straight line quilting. Marking off lines is a thing of the past!
4. The Open Toe Darning Foot for free motion quilting
When you want to have fun with free motion quilting, this is the foot to use. It hops and gives you a visible space to move your fabric around underneath. Get some grippy gloves to help slide the fabric around the bed and under the needle. Play endlessly!
5. The Ruler Foot
This one is for use with… you guessed it – rulers! The thicker sides to this toe make it easy to slide along plexiglass quilting rulers. They can be open or have a slight dip in the centre so you can see your stitches. Grab your grippy gloves again to make quilting easier. Geometric designs come to life with the help of this foot and a ruler….or ten!
Bonus Tip: Check your sewing machine manual
Last tip is to make sure you are buying the correct shank foot for your machine. Low, Medium or High. Consult your owners manual or a quick google search with your machine info should produce results.
Happy stitching!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Brassens
