Taking Your Sewing to the Next Level With Specialty Feet

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I LOVE making dresses for my little ones.  I’ve made them play dresses, costume dresses, and even full-on ball gowns.  Basic really isn’t me – I like to give every project 110%… by going a little over the top.  Really, it’s just that I want the dress to actually turn out exactly as I’ve imagined it.

Keep Reading for Great Deals Sewing Foot Sets

I’m not ready to share this particular dress because it’s being made for a special event and I’d like my little one to be able to debut it there.  I don’t mind sharing that I used a custom printed fabric, it’s fully lined, has tons of layers, and is adorned with hand-sewn embellishments.  She is so excited to get to wear it soon and I can’t wait to see her wear it!

Since I’ve graduated beyond basic sewing, I’ve found that I’ve graduated beyond basic sewing feet.  For this dress alone, I used the following feet (so far!):

Watch the blog for new posts on how to use each of these feet to get amazing results.

All these are for low-shank style machines, like Brother, Babylock, Singer, Janome, etc
Top: Tape Binding Foot; Left to Right: Zipper Foot, Invisible Zipper Foot, Rolled Hem Foot, Overcast Foot, Zig-Zag Foot; Not pictured, but will be used for the final step: Blind Hem Foot

I’ve been paying about $20 a piece for specialty feet that did not come with my machine, but while shipping for the invisible zipper foot, I noticed that there are generic feet for much, much less.  There are even full sets of 32 feet for less than I’ve been paying for 1.  I ordered one to see what the difference was.  There is a distinct quality difference in the feet.  Visually, they aren’t as smooth and the finish isn’t as nice.  They look like cheaply made copies.  They are likely knock-offs made by creating molds of the nicer feet and then made with cheaper materials with lower quality control standards.  Reviews state that some come chipped or unusable.  Mine arrived all in working condition but with a cheaper feel and finish.

Here is a cheap invisible zipper foot (left) next to a Distinctive brand rolled hem stitch (right) so you can see the visual difference.  The plating on the cheap foot is pitted and not smooth while the rolled hem foot is smooth and more refined.  It’s more apparent in person.

The finish does not seem to effect the functionality, at least for the odd-project when you need these feet.  I use my Zig Zag foot as my primary foot.  I like having a higher quality foot that I know I can depend on for the majority of my projects.  However, for a foot you use only occasionally, the knock-offs may suit you.

In general, I’m very pro-Made-in-the-USA and anti-Chinese-knock-offs because I feel there is a thick layer of deception and copying other people’s work (this is different than being inspired by others’ work) just plain isn’t cool.  However, with sewing feet, there are generic versions available for all feet anyway and these are just a cheaply made version.  So where can you get yours?

32-piece Sewing Presser Foot Set on Amazon

Embroidex is a highly rated generic foot brand and
this set uses all of the feet mentioned above and then some.

Super Generic 32-foot Set
If you don’t mind a bit of a gamble and a LONG wait,
you may want to try this extremely inexpensive version.
Just note, the labels may not be in English.

Don’t expect directions with how to use all of these feet.  Some kits don’t even come with the labels in English so it will be a little extra work for you.  However, I’ve found great instructions for how to use these feel on my favorite sewing blogs & YouTube channels.  If you’d like, I can go into more detail on using these feet in future posts, just let me know in the comments below.