Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Old Foot, New Foot

Typing the title for today's post I'm thinking of Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book.  We love Dr. Seuss here.

Anyway, I got a new foot for my quilting machine!  I use a Brother PQ1500S, and the free-motion foot that came with it was weird.  It was a metal oval with plastic in the middle that obstructed visibility.  It also was connected to the machine in a way that sticks out to the side/back, making it difficult to use rulers at certain angles.  These feet aren't designed for using longarm rulers--they aren't thick enough, but it can be done if you're really careful!
 My new foot is the Juki foot, shown on the right.  I wasn't sure if it would fit, but the Brother 1500 is very similar to the Juki TL series, so I hoped it would work.  It does!  It is much more sturdy and industrial-looking.  It also sits lower on the machine, I had to reduce the presser foot pressure quite a bit.  On the up side, visibility is much improved, and I think my machine actually makes nicer stitches, which I wasn't expecting at all.  The shape is also more consistent, and will make using rulers much easier.

Something that I've been wanting to share for a while is this picture from a quick-reference guide that came with Darryl (my Brother).  Yeah, most of us know that you push down the foot pedal to control the speed of the  bobbin winder.
The part I think is really hilarious is the picture of the foot--wearing a slipper.  It's not just any slipper either, this looks almost exactly like my husband's 95 year old grandmother's slippers.  Is there such a stereotype that old ladies wearing slippers are the ones sewing?  This just makes me laugh.  I don't own slippers, but if I did, I doubt I would sew in them.  I usually sew barefoot, or in socks if my toes get cold.

I've made a fair amount of progress this week, I just need to have a photo shoot and I'll get some of it posted.  It's cloudy outside right now so I should go do that before the sun comes out!

6 comments:

  1. I love the new hopping foot. Where did you get it? I'm still using the oval one--with some success, but the screw does get in the way. Nice tip, thanks. I laugh at the slipper foot too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where do you get the foot ?

      Delete
    2. Hi Patti,

      I think I got it at sewingmachinesplus.com, but it doesn't appear to be there anymore. Here's what they have in stock now--the high shank ones should work.
      http://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/juki-presser-feet.php

      The foot I was using actually broke. I got a new one and it broke too! The welding just came apart. I went back to the old foot that came with my machine--I removed the plastic from the middle and had no problems with it after that. I ended up selling the machine for a larger longarm a few months later, so I hope it's working well for the new owner.

      I wrote a little about the broken foot in this post:
      http://thequiltingmill.blogspot.com/2012/09/broken-foot-legs-in-braces.html

      Delete
  2. This post made me laugh...thanks!! (And good luck with the new foot)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Left foot right foot feet feet feet!

    I remember Mom saying she didn't feel comfortable using the foot pedal without slippers on. (Something about the electricity?)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking time to leave a comment! They make my day!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...