Amanda: Did your Janome sewing machine come with a Darning Foot (PD-H)? Or, did it possibly come with more than; an Open Toe and a Closed Toe as pictured below?
Reader: I have zero clue what you are talking about. Darning sounds boring, I'm here for the fun things!
Amanda: A Darning foot is also referred to as a Hopping foot as it has a spring built-into the shaft with the end sitting over the needle clamp screw of the needle bar. This spring allows the foot to hop up and down so you can move your fabric freely underneath. This is great for darning/ mending a hole in the fabric, as well as for free-motion quilting.
Reader: Oh! I was wondering about those feet with the springs.
Amanda: What the darn are you going to do with those? If only we could figure those darn things out! Ok, I'll stop now, lol!
Many Janome sewing machines come with at least one Darning foot (PD-H). The Janome Continental M7, and the Janome Continental M17, for example, come with 2 such feet; one Closed Toe foot and one Open Toe foot. What in the darnation does a "toe" have to do with sewing feet? Well, I'm glad you asked and I will hop to an answer. (Ok, I'm even annoying myself now, lol!).
What attaches to the machine is called the Foot Holder, or some call it an "ankle" as that's what the actual presser foot attaches to. The foot itself may have a "toe" which extends beyond where the foot attaches.
In the photo below you will see the Janome Open Toe Darning foot (PD-H) 9mm/High Shank Part Number: 202314002 has a gap in the middle for improved visibility of the needle and the fabric beneath.
However, if you are sewing over any layers which have edges, the "toe" ends may get caught on the edge or slip under the edge.
The Janome Closed Toe Darning foot (PD-H) 9mm/High Shank Part Number: 859839002 keeps all your layers down together and prevents the fabric from folding up onto itself. There's a continuous, solid "toe" making more contact with the fabric.
Reader: That's great Amanda, but you still haven't told us what this foot actually does besides bounce around.
Amanda: Right! These feet are super helpful. Here is a short list but really, the sky is the limit of when you'd like to use them.
- As the name indicates, you can darn/mend holes in your clothes, backpacks, etc. With the price of absolutely everything right now, more people are turning to repairing things over replacing them.
- Baste layers together with a super long stitch so it is easy to take out later. You move the fabric under the foot, so you control how long you want that stitch.
- Free-motion quilting. My first 2 quilts were free motion quilted. Let me know in the comments below if you need me to write a blog post to pump you all up to become free-motion quilting superstars!
- Free hand appliqué.
- Thread Painting. You read that right! You can paint using thread in your machine!
Reader: How does that one foot do all these things?
Amanda: I'm so glad you asked! When we use most sewing feet, we rely on using the little teeth built into the machine called feed dogs which help move the fabric through the machine. When we use the Darning foot, we disengage, or cover the feed dogs (depending on the model) which allows us to move our fabric in any direction.
The Janome Darning foot (PD-H) allows us to use a straight or zigzag stitch and we control the stitch length by how fast we move the fabric versus the speed of the machine. The hopping action of the Darning foot allows our fabric to move around freely while still fully completing stitches.
Reader: So, all we have to do is attach the foot, lower the feed dogs and start stitching?
Amanda: For the most part, yes! However there are a few things which will make this a bit easier for you to ensure the success of your stitching.
Using a Janome Low Tension Bobbin Holder (often called a Blue Dot Bobbin Holder) helps keep the underneath side of your stitches nice and uniform. Sometimes we move the fabric too fast and this leads to eyelashing. This is where the bobbin thread pulls too much of the needle thread to the bottom of your work and you get curves which look like they have eyelashes.
Be sure to check with your Janome dealer to ensure you get the correct Low Tension Bobbin Holder for your machine.
Using a Janome Purple Tip Needle will help prevent skipped stitches, especially when free-motion quilting. This size #14 flared Cobra head needle works wonders! It is designed specifically to prevent eye lashing and skipped stitches.
When darning/mending, adding some sort of stabilizer will help prevent the stitches from distorting the fabric. Stabilizer adds layers for your thread to grab on to. If you are thread painting or working on small appliqué you may even want to use an embroidery hoop to keep your fabric nice and taunt as you stitch.
To learn more about Janome presser feet, I suggest you check out our Janome Presser Foot Workbook and specifically the Free Motion Presser Foot Addendum. This book walks you through a variety of techniques and lists which machines settings for optimum results.
I've made you a video below so you can see some of these techniques in action.
Reader: That's so cool Amanda! Thanks for sharing this with us! I have so many ideas on how I will use the Janome Darning foot (PD-H) and I'm going to tell you in the comments below!
Amanda: YES! I'm so excited to hear what you have come up with!!!
Stitch On!
~ AmandaBee
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