ANOTHER JANOME OPTIONAL ACCESSORY: THE “RULER” FOOT FOR FREE MOTION

Continuing with our JANOME OPTIONAL ACCESSORY series:  

THE “RULER” FOOT.

FREE MOTION FRAME QUILTING FEET SET – I am talking about the foot on the LEFT. The one on the right is the open toe foot for Janome 1600P

Now I must tell you a little bit of a story about this foot: We have had it for a long time….I’m thinking several years. It’s official name is the JANOME FREE MOTION FRAME QUILTING FOOT SET PART #767434005.  As with all the new feet, it landed on my desk, I looked at it and saw the information on the box indicated it was for use with the JANOME 1600P. This is a straight stitch machine and so you would select these feet if you plan on using our JANOME 1600P  on a FRAME.  These feet do need to be attached to a CONVERTIBLE free motion foot for the Janome 1600P which is a separate part # 767433004. Please note that the Janome 1600P has a different configuration and side loading which our other machines do not have.  Hence the Convertible foot holder set for the 1600P is not interchangeable with other Janome models (see below). In other words, these feet were designed to be used on the 1600P when it is not on a table but mounted onto a quilting frame where you move the machine and the quilt stays stationary on the frame & rollers made for this purpose.  Now, I do not have a JANOME 1600P  open in the classroom, nor do I have a frame, so I pretty much put this foot set out of sight & out of mind…………..well I am sorry!! I should not have done this….oops.

CONVERTIBLE FREE MOTION FOOT HOLDER WITH “RULER” FOOT TOE ATTACHED. NOTICE HOW IT HAS A THICK “LIP” AND RIDES NICELY AGAINST THE RULER

Turns out, this foot set can be used  when you do not have the JANOME 1600P OR  a quilting frame………..Yes,  you can use it on other JANOME machine models (more below) when they are standing firmly table top/not on a frame! I was approached by one of my BC dealers; Langley Vacuum & Sewing  recently with a question about a “RULER”  foot to use on our machines when we quilt. I was told it was a JANOME FOOT???? ……..Needless to say, I was coming up blank as I had not heard anything about a RULER foot.  My dealer insisted and then sent me a link to a blogpost where……….YES…….a JANOME customer had experimented with this foot set on her JANOME MC6600P.  Please feel free to check out this link: my acknowledgments go to Amy’s Free Motion Quilting Adventures. Amy has a JANOME MC 6600P  which she does not use on a frame. This link tells you her whole story. Amy calls our JANOME FREE MOTION FRAME QUILTING FEET SET a “ruler” foot –  Sure is less of a “mouthful”!  The closed toe foot in this set has a thick “lip” which is very useful for doing free motion quilting when you wish to follow a line or curve using a ruler as your guide.  Some folk like to mark their lines onto their quilt tops with chalk (or other means) and then free motion as close to their markings as possible. Some just “wing” it entirely. But if you want to ensure that your lines or curves are pretty smooth and even, a little help may be a good thing! Here is where the RULERS come in. Remember to allow 1/4 inch between the desired placing of the stitching & ruler edge as the distance between the edge of the foot which will ride along the ruler edge and the needle is 1/4 inch.

ON RIGHT: CONVERTIBLE FREE MOTION FOOT HOLDER WITH “RULER” FOOT ATTACHED.
ON LEFT: CLOSED TOE; CLEAR VIEW FOOT & OPEN TOE ATTACHMENTS WHICH COME WITH THE CONVERTIBLE FREE MOTION FOOT SET

Janome Canada does not sell these rulers. Mine shows in the pic as lime green…..which it is. The brand name on mine is The Gadget Girls & has scallops on one side & a double curve on the other. No clue where I acquired it (many years ago) but it has been quite useful on a number of occasions. I cannot speak for other countries who may have these rulers available for their Janome dealers to sell. Please make applicable enquiries in your country. Some of our Janome dealers may very well have these rulers  – I know of several in Western Canada who DO (for example: SNIP AND STITCH in Nanaimo, BC). Most quilt stores carry one or another of these brands of rulers OR can certainly order for you if you ask.  Google is also a wonderful thing! Do your research on which brands and styles might be useful for your purposes and then ask your dealer to order this for you. Just in case you might be getting confused: These rulers are not  for rotary cutting! It is a special straight or curved ruler which is a bit thicker than a regular rotary cutting ruler. This is because you do NOT want the ruler to slip under the foot as you free motion quilt as you will then have one broken needle lickety-split fast……and a dinged ruler too!  So the rulers are designed thicker to prevent them slipping under the foot. And if you look at the pic at the top of this post, you will see that the foot on the left is quite thick as well so that it will ride up against the ruler and all will be well. If you have a LOW shank JANOME machine (ask your local JANOME DEALER if you are unsure) then you would need the following Janome parts:  Convertible Free Motion foot set for low shank models Part # 202002004 PLUS the part # listed above which contains the 2 extra parts – one of which is the “ruler” foot. It is compatible with this Convertible set.

If you have a HIGH shank JANOME machine that has a 7mm opening in the needle plate, then you need: Convertible Free Motion foot for High shank 7mm Part # 202001003 PLUS the frame set above for the “ruler” foot.

If you have a HIGH shank JANOME machine that has a 9mm opening in the needleplate, then you need: Convertible Free Motion Foot set for 9mm Part # 202146001 PLUS the frame set for the “ruler” foot You may already have the Convertible Free Motion foot set as this does come as a standard accessory with some of our JANOME machine models. If you are unsure, check the Instruction manual for your machine model: it does list all the feet which would have been included with your machine.  If it is listed and you don’t have it….well then my advice would be to start tidying up your sewing room and searching in all those drawers & boxes as you may have mislaid a very useful set of feet for your machine!! The link above has a video and other information relevant to the functioning of these CONVERTIBLE FREE MOTION FEET SETS. Check these out as it will help you immeasurably to get the most from your sewing machine feet & accessories.

Please note that Janome is not recommending the use of this Convertible Free motion foot and “ruler foot” attachment for machine models which have automatic presser foot lift as there is a chance that the foot could go up too high in the auto presser foot lift function and cause damage. Warranty will not cover damage caused by using these feet on models with Auto presser foot lift: Janome Mc12000, Mc15000 and Skyline S7.  

CURVED CROSS HATCHING QUILTED ONTO MY WALL HANGING

Do also check out Amy’s blog as she has advice & video’s there too. So, what will you be free motioning today????