[h-cost] Walking feet
I now have my Bernina 1008, and some of the many feet I splurged on. I bought both Bernina feet and generic feet to use with an adapter. I have spent decades doing most operations without special feet, but have decided to try some new feet and see if they change my life. I also bought an old Singer tucker that may or may not work with an adapter--I'll find out when I get it. My question is this: I hand baste all my seams before sewing them and therefore, have never needed a walking foot. Does anyone here get any better use of walking feet than basting? (The walking foot is one I did not buy.) If so, for what? I am going to give another try at another repair place at getting my 15-year-old Viking 400 repaired, for use as a backup machine. There is only one other point over the decades where I have had two machines at once (when I was in college), since it's always seemed excessive. But being on another sewing forum with members who have collected as many as 50 machines has altered my perspective. Some people even keep four or five of them set up assembly-line style to do different operations. The Viking does have its virtues, one being a solid metal body and another that it runs quieter than the Bernina, although the Bernina is not that bad. The Viking really was a workhorse that served me well for a long time. I have faced up to the fact that it runs a lot worse after its recent servicing than before (hard to admit after I replaced it), and it seems clear the repair place screwed up. Really, I'd hate to let it go. Actually, I also have a new-in-box Singer someone gave me a month or so ago. But I don't even count that. Singers these days are junk--I want to sell it or at least donate it for a tax writeoff. Fran Lavolta Press www.lavoltapress.com ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Walking feet
Fran- I had a walking foot for my Bernina, but I sold it. I found myself not really needing it, and not liking it when I did use it. Save yourself some money and don't buy one. You shouldn't need to baste the seam before sewing it with your new Bernina, UNLESS it's velvet. Pinning should be sufficient. You'll find the machine feeds beautifully. Kim ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Walking feet
I use mine for creepy-crawlies like velvet and sheers, and for leather. ~Aurora On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Kim Baird kba...@cableone.net wrote: Fran- I had a walking foot for my Bernina, but I sold it. I found myself not really needing it, and not liking it when I did use it. Save yourself some money and don't buy one. You shouldn't need to baste the seam before sewing it with your new Bernina, UNLESS it's velvet. Pinning should be sufficient. You'll find the machine feeds beautifully. Kim ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Walking feet
I bought mine to use for sewing my canvas pavilion. Worked like a dream. I have been told that one should always be used when sewing velvet. Aurora Celeste auroracele...@gmail.com 9/21/12 5:21 PM I use mine for creepy-crawlies like velvet and sheers, and for leather. ~Aurora On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 8:19 PM, Kim Baird kba...@cableone.net wrote: Fran- I had a walking foot for my Bernina, but I sold it. I found myself not really needing it, and not liking it when I did use it. Save yourself some money and don't buy one. You shouldn't need to baste the seam before sewing it with your new Bernina, UNLESS it's velvet. Pinning should be sufficient. You'll find the machine feeds beautifully. Kim ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication with its contents may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information. It is solely for the use of the intended recipient(s). Unauthorized interception, review, use or disclosure is prohibited and may violate applicable laws including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and destroy all copies of the communication. ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Walking feet
You mean the Bernina 1008 will actually sew over pins? I gave that up after I (immediately and very expensively) ruined the timing on the machine I bought right after the Sears Kenmore died. The Kenmore would sew over anything, so I assumed the newer machines would. Big mistake, in that case. It would be great to know they've designed the Bernina 1008 to sew over pins, or do you remove them as you go along? Thanks, Fran Lavolta Press Books on historic sewing www.lavoltapress.com On 9/21/2012 5:19 PM, Kim Baird wrote: Fran- I had a walking foot for my Bernina, but I sold it. I found myself not really needing it, and not liking it when I did use it. Save yourself some money and don't buy one. You shouldn't need to baste the seam before sewing it with your new Bernina, UNLESS it's velvet. Pinning should be sufficient. You'll find the machine feeds beautifully. Kim ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Walking feet
On Sep 21, 2012, at 6:55 PM, Lavolta Press wrote: My question is this: I hand baste all my seams before sewing them and therefore, have never needed a walking foot. Does anyone here get any better use of walking feet than basting? (The walking foot is one I did not buy.) If so, for what? I got a walking foot when I machine-quilted something. The batting changes the game entirely — even with a light spray adhesive to baste the layers together, the loft of the batting will still let the top bottom layers shift. If I was going to hand-baste the quilt first, I might as well hand- quilt it. With a walking foot I can go freestyle with the stitching. It depends on the level of accuracy desired — some people are ok with machine quilting on a historic garment that would have been done by hand. I assume there are 19th and 20th C garments that were originally machine quilted. -Carol ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
Re: [h-cost] Walking feet
I figured it might be useful for quilting. I find that basting is quite enough for garment layers of velvet, satin, etc., though. During the second half of the 19th century, home sewers could buy fabrics pre-quilted by machine. Fran Lavolta Press www.lavoltapress.com I got a walking foot when I machine-quilted something. The batting changes the game entirely — even with a light spray adhesive to baste the layers together, the loft of the batting will still let the top bottom layers shift. If I was going to hand-baste the quilt first, I might as well hand-quilt it. With a walking foot I can go freestyle with the stitching. It depends on the level of accuracy desired — some people are ok with machine quilting on a historic garment that would have been done by hand. I assume there are 19th and 20th C garments that were originally machine quilted. -Carol ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume ___ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
