Playing With Some New Feet

My mom brought over a bunch of generic feet that work with Bob, the new Brother machine.  That reminded me that I had bought a bunch of generic feet myself for Betty (the White) just before I bought Phoebe (the Pfaff).  So I hauled them all out to see what would work and what wouldn't, and to play a little bit.

This is a gathering foot.  I really don't understand how this one works, and clearly I didn't have it working very well.  It has a smooth underside that was hit and miss with whether it moved the fabric along or not.  I don't know if my fabric was too slippery - it is a crepe.  I would definitely need to play with this foot some more to get the hang of it.

This foot is a binder attachment.  It works with pre-folded binding.  I have other feet to try that I think fold the binding for you but I'm not sure if this one does - I'll have to play some more.  I used store-bought bias binding for this sample, and as you can see I missed sewing down the binding quite a bit.  I wonder if my binding needed ironing (it had been out of the package and was pretty wonky), or my needle position needed adjusting, or both.  There is a screw that adjusts the size of the opening for the binding; I may have had that too loose.  I definitely think this foot has possibilities.

The back side looks much better.

This foot worked a little better for me.  This funky looking thing is a hemming foot.  I would need to practice more but I think I'm getting it.  After figuring out the narrow hem foot (below) I may be more successful with this one the next time I try it.

Here it is in action.  I think I've got the fabric in the correct location, with the raw edge just butting up against the left side of the slot.

Finally, the pièce de résistance; check out this narrow hem!  This is on the bottom of a sleeveless shell, but it would be perfect on the edge of a scarf.  I am showing a good closeup here because - well just look at it!

Here is a better view to show just how small that hem is.  I am really happy with this one.

I did have to try it a couple of times to get it right.  This pic shows my third attempt.  First I double folded a narrow hem at the beginning of the seam and sewed for a few stitches.  Then I manipulated the unfolded edge of the fabric in front of the foot into the slot and continued sewing.

The important thing seems to be keeping the fabric at the correct width; as shown here.  The fold should just butt up against the inside right edge of the opening with the raw edge just at the left of the opening.  When I did my second attempt I had it too wide and it left a narrow band of fabric sticking out of the seam.  I was able to clip it and use it anyway but with the proper feeding of the fabric at the correct width that wasn't a problem with the third attempt.

Still to come - I have a pintuck foot to try.  I recently saw a woman wearing a black shell with pintucks down the centre front.  I loved the look and may give it a go for my next sleeveless shell top.