To free motion quilt on your home sewing machine you will need a darning foot. This special foot is designed to hover over the surface of your quilt, allowing you free range of movement in all directions.
The problem is many darning feet are badly designed. They are created with a closed base which can make it difficult to see the needle. Many darning feet also have a top bar that hits your needle bar, causing the foot to hop with every stitch. This hopping can make it difficult to concentrate and see where you are stitching, and can also limit your movement of the quilt under the needle.
In the video below you will learn how to modify your darning foot by breaking open the base and bending back the top bar so it works much better for free motion quilting.
Click Here to find the generic darning foot in this video
The rubber band adjustment might take a bit of practice to get the hang of! If you find you suddenly begin breaking thread or skipping stitches that is a sign your foot is adjusted too high. Remove some loops of the rubber band to lower the base of the foot.
If you find the quilt sandwich very difficult to move under the foot, that is a sign the foot is a bit too low. Add one more loop of the rubber band to the top to raise the foot slightly.
Have fun breaking your foot and creating a darning foot that works perfectly for your machine!
