Have you ever wondered how a walking foot actually works? Or why it is even called a walking foot? Let me show you!
If you prefer to watch, then I’ve made a little video tutorial. If you prefer to read, then just scroll on down and there’s a step-by-step explanation for you with plenty of pictures.
To understand that, we need to know what happens normally. The feed dogs on a sewing machine are the only thing that usually moves the fabric. They move in time with the needle movement to pull the fabric at the perfect speed. They don’t just lift upwards and downwards. It is more of a circular movement that raises up to grip the fabric, moves backwards to move the fabric through, then lowers downwards and removes towards the front of the needle plate before repeating again.
This means that the fabric is only pulled from underneath while the presser foot above pushes downwards to hold the fabric against the feed dogs. This is fine for a lot of projects, but for sewing multiple layers like quilting, or fabrics prone to stretching like knits, or dragging like vinyl, the bottom fabric ends up moving quicker and more easily while the top fabric drags against the foot. This stretches and distorts the top fabric.
A walking foot has it’s own feed dogs.
There is a special arm that hooks over the needle bar. By timing the walking foot movement with the needle, it can match the speed of the fabric movement to the feed dogs in the sewing machine underneath.
As the needle bar moves up, the grips on the walking foot press downwards and shift backwards to move the fabric through the sewing machine with the sewing machine feed dogs.
As the needle bar (and needle pierce down into the fabric, the grips lift and move back towards the front of the foot ready to grip again.
The uneven surface underneath helps it to grip the fabric just like the tread on a shoe helps you to not slip on the floor.
That means that as you sew with a walking foot, the top and bottom fabrics are being grabbed like a sandwich and pulled through equally from above and below at exactly the same time and the same speed. Any fabric layers in the centre also move equally as the fabric directly above and below are moving at the same speed in the same direction, so it helps maintain alignment when you are sewing many layers together. This is especially useful in quilting.
So is it worth it to use a walking foot? There are absolutely plenty of sewing projects where this handy presser foot is perfect for helping to improve both your precision and your finished look. So if you’re sewing knits, quilting several layers together or sewing sticky or tricky fabrics.
If you’re looking for a walking foot for your sewing machine, then you can find a wide range of walking feet here.
