How to Use a Walking Foot (Complete Sewing Machine Guide)

A walking foot is one of the most useful sewing machine attachments for handling difficult fabrics and bulky sewing projects. It helps feed multiple layers of fabric evenly through your machine, preventing shifting, puckering, and uneven seams. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use a walking foot step by step, including how to attach it, when to use it, how to troubleshoot common problems, and the best fabrics and stitches for successful sewing. Whether you sew quilts, knits, slippery fabrics, or thick seams, a walking foot can dramatically improve your stitching results.

What is a Walking Foot

The sewing machine walking foot is an attachment for your machine that replaces the all-purpose presser foot. It has an extra set of teeth on the bottom, which is used to guide the layers of fabric evenly through the machine. 

Read the complete guide to sewing machine feet

This amazing sewing machine presser foot makes sewing difficult fabrics and matching seams, stripes, and patterns much easier as the layers of fabric are fed through the machine together. It is a must-have tool for sewing knits and other slippery fabrics. If you are a quilter, the walking presser foot will match your quilt block seams to perfection and sew through numerous layers without puckering.

This tutorial will discuss what is a walking foot, its uses, when to use it, and how to use a walking foot. The end also gives you some troubleshooting tips and alternatives. A sewing machine walking foot – what a sensible name for an attachment that does exactly what it says. This is the one foot on the machine that can walk you through a number of processes and is adaptable, hard-working, and makes sewing bulky fabrics simple.

The walking foot is also known as a dual feed or an even feed foot.

How does it work? A walking foot will prevent uneven feeding of fabric layers and improve your sewing quality. The foot holds the top layer of fabric and moves it along at the same speed that the machine’s feed dogs are moving the bottom layer of fabric.

Generally, a regular presser foot if fine for guiding fabric through when it is just two layers. Where the walking foot is superior is with several layers or when you need extra control.

What does a walking foot look like? It is quite large in size and has a box-like protrusion at the back of the machine, which hides the walking mechanism. Some brands have detachable or interchangeable sole plates at the bottom to suit slightly different purposes. Mine has a fixed plate.

Here is a photo of my Janome walking foot from the side and top. You can see how bulky it is. I have to say, though, that despite its size, once it is on your machine, it doesn’t feel that different from a regular foot.

Instead of gliding over the fabric with the foot touching at all times, it lifts up and down so that any pulling or puckering on the top layers or bottom layers is released. This foot is especially useful for bulky, stretchy, or slippery fabrics. It is easy to attach and, with a bit of practice, will make your sewing of difficult fabrics a whole lot easier.

When to Use a Walking Foot

Uses include sewing:

• Machine quilting and sewing quilt binding. It evenly feeds quilt layers and quilt blocks to eliminate puckering.
• Bulky seams and bulky projects and thick fabrics. Heavier fabrics and garments such as jeans or those made from faux fur.
• Slippery fabrics like Lycra and knits
• Thick straps on a tote bag where ripples are caused by a regular foot.
• Stripes and plaids or directional print fabric that needs matching.
• Leather and vinyl-coated fabric as well as other sticky fabrics.
• Stretch Fabrics prone to uneven stitches.

How to Use a Walking Foot (Step by Step)

Here is how to use a walking foot, including the best stitches, and needles, and attaching it to your sewing machine. All you need is a screwdriver to undo the screw that normally holds on your all-purpose sewing foot. Most machines come with an appropriately sized screwdriver. You can see here the walking foot in comparison to my regular presser and the screw that needed to be removed.

1. How to Attach a Walking Foot

Setting up your machine to use a walking foot may take a bit of time and practice, but it is not difficult. 

Firstly, you need to remove the current presser foot and presser foot holder. Keep the screw from the presser foot holder on one side, or try not to remove it completely. Put the presser foot in a safe place. 

1. Make sure your needle is up and out of the way. Slip the presser foot into place but don’t screw it in yet. 
2. When attaching the walking foot, ensure the lever is over your needle clamp screw. This is the claw-like extension at the side of the foot. Finally, use the utility screwdriver from your machine to ensure the screw is tightened.  

It is all about synchronizing the top and bottom feeds as they work over and under the fabric. 

Optional Extra: The quilting bar that comes with the walking foot is an extra part of the attachment and is ideal for quilting. Slide it through the holes provided on the presser foot and set it at the desired width to sew evenly spaced lines along the quilt. The bar is not essential for other sewing projects but is very useful for keeping an equal stitching distance for quilted projects. 

2. Insert Needle

Just use your regular needles, which will match your fabric. If you are sewing thicker or bulkier fabrics, make sure you choose a thicker needle that will not break.
Quilts – Quilting Needles
Leather – Leather Needles
Cotton Straps – Thicker Universal Needles
Further Reading –Types of Sewing Machine Needle

3. How to Sew with the Walking Foot

Sewing with the walking presser foot is not that different from straight stitching with a regular presser.

1. You will thread your bobbin as normal. Ensures your machine is set to sew in straight lines.
2. When sewing, it is best to go a little slower so the mechanism has time to walk up and down smoothly. My Janome has a switch on the foot pedal that can go from high speed to low speed. If your machine doesn’t have a speed regulator, then just go easy on the pedal.
3. Don’t forget that this foot won’t go backward, so just start near the edge and go forwards.
4. To stop the ends from unraveling, pull the threads to the back and knot the ends. Another way to secure the ends would be to make the first inch or so really small stitches. Put the stitch length down to 0.5 and then switch to your regular length.

Further Reading – How to Stop and Start Seams

4. Troubleshooting the Walking Foot

If your walking presser foot is not working smoothly, here are some suggested remedies.

PROBLEM	POSSIBLE SOLUTION
Foot not walking smoothly	Check it is attached correctly to the machine. In particular, check the screw and that the lever is over the needle bar.
Won’t backstitch	It is not designed to sew in reverse. Go forwards. Tie the ends of the threads to stop unraveling
Skipping stitches	This is more likely your needle. Check the type and replace it if damaged or bent. Also, check the thread is appropriate weight and type.
Won’t attach to the machine	Check for brand compatibility

Alternatives to the Walking Foot

When you are sewing really bulky fabrics, knit fabrics, or quilts, then the walking foot really is the best option. For other finer fabrics like Lycra and knits, there is another alternative. You can use a Teflon presser foot. This is much smaller.

The regular-sized sewing machine foot can just snap on and is much easier to maneuver and sew curves. Because the foot is coated or made entirely from Teflon, it glides over fabric that would normally stick and result in uneven or skipped stitches.

Brands of Walking Foot

You can purchase the same brand walking presser foot as your sewing machines such as Janome, Brother, or Singer, or one of the many generic ones on the market. They are readily available at your local haberdashery or Amazon or eBay. Before purchasing, you will need to know whether your machine has a high shank or low shank.

When Not to Use a Walking Foot

There are several instances in which you should not use a walking foot. They are:

• Free Motion: This gadget is not suited to free motion embroidery because the feed teeth control the direction of the fabric, not allowing it to move in different directions. 
• Reversing: It cannot reverse, so it is unsuitable if you need to backstitch ends.
• Wide Stitches: You can’t use a walking foot for wide stitches. You need to use it with straight stitches or very narrow stitches.

Walking Foot FAQs

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Walking Foot – In Conclusion

Now you know how to use a walking foot, it is important to try out the new gadget on scraps of fabric to test drive the walking foot. You will be amazed at the difference it makes to sewing knits.

After you have finished, you may not want to go back to your normal presser foot. Your walking foot will behave beautifully on bulky fabrics, stretch knits, and slippery fabrics.

Caution!  This foot responds best to slower speeds so set the pace at a slower tempo. 

More Sewing Machine Feet Tutorials:

1. Gathering Foot
2. Ruffler Foot for Sewing Machine
3. Rolled Hem Foot
4. Blind Hem Foot
5. 10 Best Sewing Machine Feet
6. Teflon Foot
7. All-Purpose Foot
8. Binder Foot
9. Edge Stitch Foot