I have eavesdropped on sewists for years as they boasted about a sewing machine foot, popularly known as the “Walking Foot.” In your capacity as a professional sewer, you must already be aware of what a walking foot is and how crucial it is when working on bigger projects. However, you must have never heard of a walking foot if you are an amateur sewer. For smaller projects, sewists use presser feet and if you’re interested in that, read our article on the buying guide for presser feet.
So, in this article, you will see the list of the best walking feet for your sewing machines and also a complete buying guide to selecting the right walking foot for your machine.
What is a walking foot?
A walking foot attachment is a peculiar-looking, large presser foot. It is typically not offered as an option on home sewing machines. It needs to be purchased separately.
Walking feet are pretty large in size, which offers your sewing machine additional powers. It provides your machine with an extra pair of feed dogs to sew on top of fabrics.
A regular press foot will slide along the top of your material and press down on it. It might sometimes touch the fabric as the feed dogs try to move it toward the back of the sewing machine. The misalignment is fixed by moving the bottom layer with a walking foot at the same speed as the top layer.
Our Top Picks For The Best Walking Foot For Sewing Machines
Best Overall: Singer Even Feed Walking Presser Foot (jump to review)
Best Budget: Denaly Even Feed Walking Foot (jump to review)
Best for Quilting: Even Feed Walking Sewing Machine Presser Foot (jump to review)
Best Open Toe: Honeysew Open Toe Walking Foot (jump to review)
Best for Brother Machines: Yicbor Even Feed Walking Foot (jump to review)
Detailed reviews of the best walking foot for sewing machines
When quilting or sewing on smooth materials, the Singer Even Feed Walking Foot is a great tool. For correctly matching plaids and prints, it's also quite useful.
This walking foot's moving feed system moves and holds the fabric between its upper feed dog and the sewing machine's bottom feed for precise control.
The Singer Even Feed Walking Foot can be used with vertical needles and most sewing machines with a low shank.
- Easy to install
- Affordable
- Can be a bit clunky
The Denaly Even Feed Walking Foot has a built-in fabric feeding system that holds and moves fabric between your sewing machine's lower and upper feed dogs. This helps keep the fabric from shifting and gives you better control over the layers.
This built-in system for feeding the fabric is great for sewing smoothly on slippery fabrics, among other things. The Denaly Walking Foot is compatible with most brands of sewing machines.
It is made to work with the thickest layers of fabric and is made to be accurate when used with low-shank sewing machines.
- Good for beginners
- Easy to operate
- A little on the costlier side
The Even Feed Walking Foot is a necessary sewing tool. This foot includes pre-built feed dogs that can grab your fabric for added control. It is a very high quality product.
It is simple, quick, and gives expert assistance to sew plush fabric (like suede, mainly velvet), slippery fabric (like pvc, vinyl, and leather), thick fabric (like denim, upholstery fabric), and quilt binding. includes a quilt guide that you can attach to the back of the walking foot and set to sew in parallel rows at regular intervals. Overall, it makes it easier to do things that would have been very hard to do by hand.
- Good value for money
- Sits well on sewing machines
- Might snap off easily
To better control challenging fabrics, the Honeysew Walking Foot has a moving feed mechanism that can move and hold fabric between the upper feed dog of the presser foot and the lower feed dog of the sewing machine.
Can minimize improper layers within fabrics and maintain smooth synchronization of the bottom and top fabric layers.
When matching patterns, fabric drift, or plaids is a problem while stitching or quilting, this walking foot can be very helpful.
Fits most low-shank sewing machines and reduces needle jumping significantly when sewing with leather, knitted fabric, and other slippery fabrics.
- Has a low shank
- Reasonably priced
- Does not work for all sewing machines
The Yicbor Walking Foot makes it easy to sew through many layers of fabric with skill. Simply put, this is a deluxe walking foot that is of higher quality than the regular basic walking foot.
It's easy to put on any sewing machine and does a great job on a wide range of projects. It does a nice job of keeping the fabric from stretching and creeping while sewing.
You might, however, need to slow down while sewing with this even-feed walking foot, but it's worth the time to get an excellent result.
The Yicbor Walking Foot should not be used for stitches involving anything other than the feed dogs moving forward as well as sewing side-to-side or in reverse.
- Is of deluxe quality
- Gives great results
- Time consuming
Buying Guide – Best Walking Feet
What is a walking foot?
A walking foot attachment is a peculiar-looking, large presser foot. It is typically not offered as an option on home sewing machines. It needs to be purchased separately.
Walking feet are pretty large in size, which offers your sewing machine additional powers. It provides your machine with an extra pair of feed dogs to sew on top of fabrics.
A regular press foot will slide along the top of your material and press down on it. It might sometimes touch the fabric as the feed dogs try to move it toward the back of the sewing machine. The misalignment is fixed by moving the bottom layer with a walking foot at the same speed as the top layer.
What are the advantages and disadvantages (pros and cons) of a walking foot installed in sewing machines?
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Can tackle sew foam, upholstery fabrics, heavy canvas, slippery fabrics, vinyl, quilting materials or soft leather | A walking foot mechanism can harm the fabric’s surface while sewing very thin delicate materials like silk |
| Consists of forward as well as backward sewing | Is quite heavy and difficult to reposition or lift |
| Can hold more powerful, thicker needles for difficult materials | It can occasionally get a little noisy. |
| Is able to traverse various heights throughout the entire project with ease | Provides a minimal number of stitching options |
| Long hours of sewing could be accomplished with a leather walking foot along with a heavy-duty machine setup | In order to maintain its overall performance, proper care and maintenance is required |
| Can perfectly manage layers without slipping | Is expensive |
When Should You Use A Walking Foot?
- Sewing knit materials
Knit materials tend to stretch as you stitch them because they are stretchy. This is especially true when stitching in the direction of a stretch, such as on a T-shirt’s hem, or sewing with extremely flexible fabrics, like in rib knits. A walking foot makes it easier for knit fabrics to move in the same way and keeps them from stretching out of shape.
- Sewing to bind quilts
While binding, the bottom layer may sometimes slide in front of the top layer, which results in wonky binding and puckers. When sewing on mini-quilt binding or quilt binding, these problems go away when you use a walking foot.
- Sewing heavy materials and thick seams
Because they are thick and bulky, fabrics like upholstery fabric, terrycloth with many layers, and thick wool don’t feed well. This problem can be handled by a walking foot, which makes sewing heavy-weight fabric quite simple. It is also great for sewing thick seams. Using a walking foot also makes it much easier to work with leather, oilcloth, vinyl, plastics, and other similar materials.
When Should You Avoid Using Your Walking Foot?
- Backwards sewing
Reverse use of a walking foot is not intended. The fabric can be moved forward by the walking foot’s feed dogs and backward by the sewing machine’s feed dogs.
- Multi-layer sewing
A walking foot has hardly any use while dealing with multiple layers of any fabric that you are sewing with. Its only use is to push the feed dogs against a regular presser foot. This creates the friction that the clothing layers need to move through smoothly.
- Sewing on delicate materials
If you try using your walking foot on a silk jersey, you’re going to stop using it immediately, as the material will be gnawed up by your walking foot. Walking feet are great, but you should never use them on delicate fabrics without first testing the seam on some scraps.
What Is the Difference Between a Walking Foot Sewing Machine and a Walking Foot Sewing Machine Attachment?
The fundamental distinction between a walking foot accessory and a walking foot sewing machine is that the whole machine can help the foot move over the fabric.
- Walking Foot Sewing Machine
A regular sewing machine pulls on the top piece of fabric, which makes the stitches uneven. A walking foot sewing machine, on the other hand, has a unique design that feeds both the bottom and top pieces of fabric at the same rate.
A sewing machine with a “walking foot” will appear to be moving its foot while you are sewing. Mostly for industrial use, a walking-foot sewing machine is constructed.
- Walking Foot Attachment
The walking foot attachment, which has a unique appearance, is intended to add an extra pair of feed dogs for the top of your fabric being sewed.
This facilitates easy handling of uncommon fabrics. Because the presser foot that is on top of the fabric runs alongside the feed dogs available below, it makes sewing thick layers easier.
Where Can I Get a Walking Foot?
A walking foot provided by the manufacturer is included with most machines. If not, the maker of your machine may sell this unique foot as an optional extra. However, the foot meant particularly for your sewing machine needs to be found online. Although walking feet come in varying prices, they are usually more expensive than regular presser feet. Amazon is a great place to find a wide variety of walking shoes.
Final Verdict
In all honesty, one should always use a walking foot while working with thick materials. The main benefit is that it helps to stop fabric slipping, and you’ll be able to make same-length stitches in all directions. By adding an extra walking foot to your sewing machine’s accessories, you may be able to change it quickly.
Use this guide to select the best walking foot for your sewing journey.
- Best Overall: Singer Even Feed Walking Presser Foot (jump to review)
- Best Budget: Denaly Even Feed Walking Foot (jump to review)
- Best for Quilting: Even Feed Walking Sewing Machine Presser Foot (jump to review)
- Best Open Toe: Honeysew Open Toe Walking Foot (jump to review)
- Best for Brother Machines: Yicbor Even Feed Walking Foot (jump to review)
If you are an advanced sewist, have a look at our best sewing books and best sewing magazines posts and if you are looking to get a basic, heavy duty or industrial sewing machine, have a look at some of our great articles. If you are a beginner sewist, review our best sewing books for beginners and best sewing machines under $200 to get started. Happy Stitching.
Articles you will like
Best Walking Foot For Sewing Machines
I have eavesdropped on sewists for years as they boasted…
Best Presser Feet – Buying Guide
A variety of presser feet for sewing machines are available,…
Frequently Asked Questions
The post Best Walking Foot For Sewing Machines appeared first on Sewing Insight.