Versatility of the HP Needle Plate and HP Foot

Perhaps you’re like me and have an ever-growing To Do list of repairs and alterations to make. These often wait till we can find/make the time, and/or are in the right head space to tackle them. I recently took some time over the holidays to complete a few little projects on my fabulous Janome Continental M7 using the included HP (High Performance) needle plate and corresponding HP foot.

Janome HP High Performance Needle Plate orients the needle to the LEFT

The HP needle plate and HP presser foot are available with select 9mm machines; Janome Continental M7; MC15000 Quiltmaker and updated versions with the purchase of the MC15000 Upgrade kit; MC9400, MC9450, and MC6700P.

The HP Needle Plate and HP Foot are also available in a separate blister pack, Part Number 865803006, and is compatible with the Janome MC6650, Indigo Skyline S9 and original Blue Version 1 which has been updated to Version 2.

Janome recommends they only be used on those machines which automatically recognize the needle plate when snapped into position. This is because the HP needle plate has a small hole for the needle in the LEFT of centre needle position. Those compatible machines recognize the needle plate and automatically swing the needle over the left, avoiding any potential broken needles by us forgetting which needle plate was on.

Janome HP High Performance Needle Plate features the LEFT needle position only.

As well, the machine will grey-out all the decorative, incompatible stitches; again eliminating the possibility of selecting the wrong stitch for the needle plate and potentially breaking a needle and damaging the machine. Janome really does try to think of everything!

Only those compatible stitches, like straight stitches in the Utility and Quilt categories can be selected when the HP Needle Plate is snapped into the machine.

This is not to be confused with the Straight Stitch needle plate which has a small hole in the Left, Centre and Right needle positions, as in the photo below. Conveniently, Janome has labeled the HP needle plate with a big HP in the lower right hand corner to help us avoid mixing them up.

The Straight Stitch Needle Plate has a small hole in the Left needle position, Centre needle position and Right needle position.

The HP presser foot is similar to the narrow presser foot with integrated foot holder of industrial and industrial-like straight stitch-only machines like the fabulous Janome HD-9 Professional. The Janome HP foot has become many quilter’s favourite 1/4″ piecing foot, however, I find I use it quite often for regular sewing as well, as I like the slim, narrow profile of the all metal foot. The integration of the foot and foot holder means there’s no side-to-side movement of the foot itself, which is why it’s a favourite for accuracy and high speed sewing.

I could have used the regular zigzag foot, or really any presser foot for the repair below, but, since I already had the HP foot and HP needle plate installed on the machine, I figured I might as well just use it to save time.

Using the markings on the needle plate and bobbin cover is so convenient when you want to use the foot for seam allowances greater than 1/4″, like in the swimsuit seam repair below. The stitching in these swim trunks had broken open, so they were in my To Do repair/alterations pile for a few weeks after I returned from vacation.

Use the convenient markings on the HP needle plate and bobbin cover for seam allowances of various widths.

Since this repair was in the crotch seam, I sewed a second row of stitching just to the right of the seam to help further reinforce that area. I do this in underarm seams allowances, as well; any area of a garment which is going to receive more stress. This extra line of stitching is only visible in the seam allowance, not on the right side of the garment.

It was a quick, easy repair, and the swim trucks are as good as new and ready for another tropical vacation in the sun!

Look for more upcoming posts on the versatile HP Needle Plate and HP Foot, but until then, review the many previous posts by typing HP Needle Plate in the SEARCH box on the right. Type HP Foot for even more posts! See what other Janome Educators and Janome Canada Artisans have made using this winning combination!

Happy Sewing!