When I bought my first sewing machine I had no idea what the different sewing feet were for. I do remember sewing with just one foot on the sewing machine and hardly ever changing it. Sometimes I would change between the standard foot and the satin stitch foot, but this was based on how I was feeling on the day, I didn’t know that each foot had a different purpose, well I kinda did, I just didn’t know what those purposes. When I am doing a sewing project these days I change the feet all the time, depending on what kind of result I’m looking for.
So this is why I am creating a series of videos explaining the most valuable sewing feet for a beginning sewer and what the different purposes are for each of them.
My first video (see it below) is showing you the basic standard sewing machine foot. I use a Janome sewing machine so this foot is marked with an ‘A’, but they do look very similar for most popular brands of sewing machine. If you are an experienced sewer I would probably hear you go “dah, of course that’s what this foot is for”, but when I was just starting out with learning how to sew I would’ve appreciated someone pointing out the supposedly obvious. I hope you find the video useful or can share this with someone who will. So enjoy the video or read on to see a quick overview of what the standard sewing foot is used for.
The Standard Sewing Machine Foot
The Standard Sewing Foot (Janome A Foot)
The standard foot is best used for basic straight stitch, zigzag or simple stitches (like the one on the sample in the video). I should also mention that this foot is for a snap on foot type sewing machine. If you have a Bernina it may have an ‘ankle’ attached to the foot as well.
This foot will usually have a space or a groove down the middle of the foot, which lines up with the position of the needle. So you can easily use this as a guide for where you want the needle to be sewing. This foot is flat on the bottom and some of them may just be solid metal. On my foot you may have noticed the see through parts. This is handy if you wanted to change the position of the needle and use the other grooves as your guide or you can just see what’s coming up to the needle more easily.
Below is a small sample of the stitches you might use this foot for:
Stitch sample showing (from left) straight stitch, a decorative stitch, zigzag stitch and another straight stitch.
What’s that little black button for?
I had no idea what this little button springy thing was for for until around the end of last year. On my machine you can push this black button in to stop the foot from tilting while sewing, like it might do if you were sewing over a bulky seam. This could be handy for if you are sewing along bulking seams, like you might have on jeans, and you don’t want the foot to tilt at the beginning or end of the seam where it is less bulkier. Honestly, I’ve never used it and I think mine is actually broken because the black button doesn’t stay in anymore.
I will be adding more videos about other favourite feet that I use including my satin stitch foot and my overcast foot so be sure to keep an eye out for those.
Happy sewing!
