How To Put The Guide Bar Back In A Walking Foot

If you have tried stitching the straight lines on a massive quilt project and faced disappointment, then here is what you need. This article introduces you to your best friend, the walking foot with guide bars.

We all know, guide bars are the grid lines that help you sew straight in any quilt project. They arrive in different types but empowers the perfect finish to your project.

The walking foot with guide bar appears a monster in your machine, but it is straightforward to use. Let’s stick to the article till the end and acknowledge the whole.

How To Put The Guide Bar Back In A Walking Foot

Guide Bar Back In A Walking Foot

To begin with, the procedure to put the guide bar back in the walking foot, you need first to remove the foot you have in your sewing machine. And, the second thing is the presser foot adaptor that is also known as a foot holder.

Before beginning with anything, you need to turn your sewing machine’s wheel to bring the needle to its topmost position. After doing so, you need to raise the presser foot and remain away from the metal plate.

After doing so, you can append the walking foot, and before doing so, you need to put the guide bar in that. So, let’s have a detailed discussion on putting the guide bar back on a walking foot.

Steps To Put The Guide Bar Back In A Walking Foot

Step 1 – Remove the standard foot.

To attach the walking foot back in your sewing machine with a guide bar, you need to remove the already present presser foot from the machine. It may be the presser foot holder or the holder screw. Remove them. Removing them is essential as they will leave you with the needle and the presser bar. Besides, you can also remove the needle if you desire.

To remove the machine’s presser foot, you need to push the presser foot’s lever located behind its adaptor. The presser foot will come off by doing so, and now, you need to make sure to put the foot in a safe place.

You can also use the screwdriver to undo the screw set on the foot adaptor’s side. If you have a brand new machine, then don’t mess with the screw either use the elbow grease. A bit of elbow grease is ok, and you need to wait patiently without using blunt force. Otherwise, it may damage the thread.

Step 2 – Remove the foot adaptor.

To remove the foot adaptor, you need to follow the same step. It is removed so that you can attach another foot to it.

Step 3 – Attach the walking foot to the presser foot

After removing the presser foot and its adaptor, you need to connect the walking foot to it. After doing so, you must raise the lobster claw, known as the lever, to slip over the needle’s clamp bar.

Step 4 – Secure the foot.

After attaching the walking foot to your machine’s presser foot, you need to secure it with the presser foot holder screw. Yeah! This will tighten it.

Attach the guide bar

Step 5 – Attach the guide bar.

After doing so, it is time to attach your guide bar to your walking foot. You need to place the U-shaped brackets on the walking foot’s top backside and line up all the holes.

Step 6 – Insert the seam guide bar.

After placing the brackets, you need to insert the seam guide bar to the U-shaped bracket you placed. Straight via the walking foot, insert the guide bar, and take it out from the other side. Now, repeat the process on the other side of the foot.

Step 7 – Fix the guide bars.

After adjusting it, you need to fix the guide bars. Push your guide bars to correct the space and insert the massive screw in the top back to make it intact. Tightening it will place all the parts in a place firmly. The guide bar sits simply in the slot, and you will not require any screw set to tighten it.

Is It Necessary To Place The Guide Bars

Is It Necessary To Place Guide Bars

Guide bars are the one that gets attached to the sewing machine’s feet in distinct ways to help the sewer repeat the stitching rows that are further apart from the markings. You can always use the foot’s edge as the guideline to stitch, but it may produce stitching lines close to each other, resulting in dense stitching.

You usually cannot use chalk, pins, tapes, or any substance to mark the fabric’s stitching lines. There are several guide bars you can use for your sewing machine. With all, you need to feet snap over the foot holder that possesses a hole in it and is used for the guide bars. The bars insert in the hole on the foot holder, and you can also insert them from the left to right side of the foot.

Some of our machines already have guide bars in them that work with the walking foot holder or any other foot it has. That is why it is not that necessary to put on another guide bar in the machine.

The guide bars are used not for the quilting work or quilting the layers of a body to quilt but also to attach the smooth binding. Yeah! For several sewing projects, the walking foot with a guide bar is indispensable to sew clothing when utilizing stretchy fabrics like thicker and knit fabrics. These fabrics tend to shift from the needle during the stitching process if you do not have the serger.

Types of Guide Bars

Types of Guide Bars

 

Several types of guide bars are there for you to use with your walking foot for hassle-free and clean quilting or stitching.

Even Feed Guide Bars – are the ones available for you to aid the alignment of already stitches rows. These even feed guide bars are utilized with the sewing machine models that comprise the white screw over the even feed feet or the walking feet.

Border Guide Bar – the border guide foot is known to work great for decorative aligned stitches and place the alternate decorative stitch between the two stitched lines. Since it possesses a transparent view, you can check where the previous stitching lines were made.

Sliding Guide Bar – the sliding guide bar is the one that helps us aligning the previous stitched rows. It is adjustable and gets locked in the place when you determine the distance between the stitched lines. It is an excellent guide bar as it attaches to the foot holder directly with just a simple click on the place.

Can You Produce The Zig-Zag Stitch With The Guide Bar In A Walking Foot?

Yes. It is possible. You can use the guide bar in your machine’s walking foot for other types of stitching than the straight stitch. The zig-zag stitch can also be made to make the zig-zag stitch pattern in the forward direction.

Regardless of that, several decorative stitches on the sewing machine are also delicate to produce types of stitches with the guide bar installed.

Can You Sew Reverse Stitches With The Guide Bar In A Walking Foot?

 

Sew Reverse Stitches With Guide Bar In A Walking Foot

No. It’s a big no. You cannot make the reverse stitched with the guide bar on a walking foot or even without a guide bar. You cannot sew rever stitch at all with the walking foot. The reason behind this is the walking foot is not designed for reverse sewing. When you are sewing with the walking foot in the reverse direction, the machine’s feed dog pulls the fabric in a backward direction with it, and the top feed dog pulls it in the forward direction.

Hence, it may result in the tearing of the fabric.

Jessica

Jessica

I'm Jessica Flores, a professional fashion designer and an expert seamstress. Crafting has always been a deep-seated passion of mine, one that has flourished and evolved over the years. I've dedicated considerable time to both studying and practicing in the realm of fashion and sewing, amassing a wealth of experience and skills. It brings me great joy to share these insights and experiences with you all, hoping to inspire and foster a similar passion for the art of sewing.

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