All sewing machines come with several presser feet because your machine can’t form stitches without one. Presser feet actually have several purposes that help your machine sew beautiful stitches. CLICK HERE to see exactly what a presser foot does as you stitch on your machine.
Why Use Specialty Presser Feet?
The feet that come with your machine are typically used for general sewing techniques such as seaming, hemming, topstitching, inserting zippers, making buttonholes, etc. But we all know it doesn’t have to stop there. Most sewing machine brands offer additional presser feet for a variety of purposes. Some are for special techniques such as couching and quilting, others make general sewing tasks such as hemming or topstitching easier, and even more presser feet let you add creativity to your sewing by adding techniques such as applique or felting to your projects. CLICK HERE to see why using specialty presser feet can help your sewing.
The #1 Reason
Even though there are several reasons to use specialty feet, I believe there is one significant reason to explore all of the presser feet available for your machine. One overall motivation for moving beyond the basic feet that you use every day. Learning to use these additional presser feet greatly expands the capabilities of your sewing machine and adds to the functionality it has and the fun that you can have with it. Using specialty presser feet gives you more technique choices, more embellishment options, more ways to improve your sewing skills. No matter what type of sewing machine you have – from an entry level basic model to a top-of-the-line, fully-loaded dream machine – you will increase its capabilities by exploring what you can do with specialty presser feet. Buying any level of sewing machine is an investment and learning to get the most from it adds more value to your purchase. Not to mention, the enjoyment and satisfaction you get from all the projects you create with needle, thread, and presser feet!
Learning the Feet
Looking at all the presser feet available for your machine can be overwhelming, especially if you are new to sewing. All machines have specialty feet and if you sew on a BERNINA machine, you have almost 100 feet and attachment options that work with your machine. If you don’t know where to start, take a look at my Feet-ology course. I created this course as an introduction to BERNINA presser feet because many students in my face-to-face classes are confused about what all the feet do, why to use them, and how to use them. To be fair, most of the feet have a similar, silver look and it may be hard to distinguish one from another when you don’t know what to look for. Feet-ology covers all of the feet in 11 video lessons plus a bonus class on the BERNINA attachments. The final lesson has instructions to make a technique sampler using some of the presser feet and attachments covered in the lessons. CLICK HERE for more information on my Feet-ology course or scroll up to to the top of the Sewfeet home page and clock on the Classes and Courses tab.
As editor of "The Big Book of Feet: A Guide to BERNINA Presser Feet and Accessories," Susan created Sewfeet to provide Educational Courses, Content, and Resources to help you with all your sewing projects.