What foot do I need for my sewing machine- please help!

butler_helen

Hi All,

I have tried searching the net and searching MSE but I can't see what I want- I think this is because I don't know what to search for.

I have a Brother XL- 5032 which I was given a while back but haven't got round to using until today. However it has only two feet with it;

1. short (<inch)with a blue 'C' shaped end and a hook on the back.
2. long (>2inches) with an adjustable bit and a spring loaded main foot bit (where it attaches to the machine).

All I want to do is make sock monkeys, door stops and some other bits but I don't know what feet I have or what feet to buy!

Any help would be gratefully received as I am currently thinking I might sell this one and buy a new one with the right feet - not very mse!

Also... does it matter what thread I am using? I am using the same stuff I was sewing by hand with.

thank you in advance,

xhelen

Penelope_Penguin

For straight sewing you need a foot a bit like this one:



Is that what you have

Penny. x

butler_helen

nope nothing like that... I can't find photos online of what I have- I shall search again.

what's that foot called? I've seen them as all purpose feet but not for a brother model.

I'll give brother a ring tomorrow but I'm so impatient I want to get one on order now :rolleyes:

butler_helen

http://www.whitesewingcenter.com/big/ac1kit.jpg

bottom far left white thing and the one with the blue bit is what I have...

Penelope_Penguin

butler_helen wrote: »

http://www.whitesewingcenter.com/big/ac1kit.jpg

bottom far left white thing and the one with the blue bit is what I have...

The white one is for making button holes. No idea what the other one is

Have you tried sewing a line on a scrap piece of fabric

Penny. x

butler_helen

yup and one makes a sort of line which is really tight but the material wont move and the other makes a spot of tight thread- Im sure there is more to this than the wrong foot!

I've copied all the instructions from the manual and I've used online tutorials... im not sure what im doing wrong:(

ChocClare

The white one is a buttonhole foot; the blue one is a button foot - ie you stick a button underneath it and the machine stitches it on using a zigzag stitch with 0 stitch length.

Looking at the photo you've put up, you will need the one on the far right at the top before the quilting guide (the L-shaped piece of metal) which is a general foot and the one third from the left which is a straight stitch foot. It's difficult to tell, because they're all "upside down" but I think the one second from the left looks like a zipper foot so that would be useful as well.

nanokitten

If the fabric wont move you probably have the tension wrong or have not threaded the spool right underneath, with the tension I'd start with a low setting and work up till it looks right front and back.

ChocClare

It does sound like your tension is not right or that you haven't threaded the machine correctly. The other thing could be your feed dogs - this is the bit underneath the foot which moves the fabric along. If they are down (and most sewing machines will allow you to put them down for embroidery and "free machining") then the material won't move unless you pull it. The lever to drop the feed dogs is usually next to the lower bobbin - open the front of the machine and look for a little lever.

Sometimes - particularly with thread on a bobbin - it can get caught and then nothing will move because the machine is trying to pull the thread and the thread ain't going anywhere.

Other possibilities:

On the stitch length dial on the front of your machine, is it set to satin stitch (rectangle)? Or is stitch length set to 0? If the only feet you've got are buttonhole and button, then the first stage of a buttonhole is to make a tack (material doesn't move and you get a bar of thread) and sewing a button on also produces a spot of thread. Have the various dials been left in those positions?