Ruffler Foot 101

Happy Tuesday, Crafters! How many of you have heard about a Ruffler Foot? Well, today I am going to share everything I know about this genius crafting tool that creates perfect ruffles with very little effort.

tips and tricks for using a ruffle foot

I will be the first to admit this little contraption can be very intimidating at first. {i mean, seriously, it doesn’t even look like a sewing machine foot!} I remember opening up the box and thinking there had to be a mistake! This hunk of metal was NOT meant for my sewing machine! But alas, it is. And I use it all. the. time. and love it! {oh and i just might have 3 of them….}

What Does a Ruffler Foot Do?

It creates pleats or ruffles and secures them into place  in one pass on the sewing machine. Sounds magical? It is. {examples of projects: Ruffle Trees, Ruffled Nursing Covers}

What Ruffler Foot Should I Buy?

First things first, make sure you know what brand and make your sewing machine is and whether you have a low shank or a high shank. These are crucial tidbits to know when you are searching. There are many generic or off-brand Ruffler Feet that are made to work well with many makes and models of sewing machine. {examples: Distinctive and Inspira}

You may find that one generic brand works better with your machine than another. For example: Distinctive’s Ruffler foot works better on my Viking sewing machine than the Inspira brand although both are made for low shank machines. The Inspira brand worked, but always made a grinding sound when I used it. {yes, red flag, i know.} After only a few months of use, the Inspira foot broke.

Where to Buy

My first ruffle foot was purchased at the local fabric store around the corner. They had to special order it and I paid around $40. I thought that was a lot when I ordered it, but I thought I was buying the name brand {Husqvarna Viking} to go with my Viking sewing machine that I also purchased at that store. When my foot came in a couple weeks later, I was surprised to find that I was charged $40 for a generic Inspira foot.  But I took it home and after some tweaking and much hair pulling, I attached it to my sewing machine. It clunked and clattered, but it worked fine.

Fast forward to a couple months ago, and the blasted thing broke. So this time, I looked online for a new one. And found ruffler feet for as little as $10! And then my friend found the exact same Inspira foot that I had special ordered at the fabric shop in a bin at Joanns…..for $15. She bought it with a 50% off coupon and got it for $7.50.

So, the moral of my story is, you do not need to order a Ruffler Foot from a specialty shop.  You can find them online and in some craft stores. Research online what brands fit your sewing machine and then price shop.

How To Install a Ruffler Foot to Your Sewing Machine

This can seem really tricky, but its not! Here’s how:

how to install a ruffler foot

1. All you need is the little screw driver that came with your sewing machine.

2. Using the screw driver, loosen and remove your standard pressure foot and the screw.

3. Leave your needle in place.

4. Take your Ruffler Foot and angle it as shown.

5. Insert the foot from the right side of the needle placing the top clasp on the needle bar and the bottom clasp around the shank.

6. Screw the foot into place and use the screw driver to tighten the last little bit. {you want it tight, but not too tight or you could strip the screw}

How to Insert Fabric Into a Ruffler Foot

how to sew with a ruffle foot
Now that you have your foot in place, how and where do you put the fabric? I will let the pictures and diagram do the talking. Its kind of hard to explain! haha

Ruffler Foot Settings

With the flick of the wrist, you can change how many ruffles and how big the ruffle pleats are.

how to adjust

 

 

1. There are 4 settings on the Ruffle Foot: Star, 12, 6, and 1. These represent how many stitches between each pleat or ruffle. The star gives you a straight stitch so that you don’t have to remove the foot in the middle of a project just to sew a straight seam. {yay!}

2. The orange knob {may be different colors depending on the brand} changes how deep the pleat or ruffle is. For smaller pleats, tighten it. For larger pleats, loosen it. You can also adjust the pleats by varying the stitch length on your sewing machine.

3. Examples of different number of stitches between pleats. I usually set mine to 6 stitches between pleats.

So that’s what the low down on Ruffler Feet. I use mine all the time and love it! And yes, I will have a project tomorrow that uses one of these handy little tools :) So stop by tomorrow for a great Ruffle Foot project!

 

Linda
Hi! I'm Linda, the craft addict behind Craftaholics Anonymous®, a craft blog. Crafting is cheaper than therapy, right? When I'm not DIYing something, I can be found taxiing around our 4 crazy kids or working out. Or shoe shopping... because you can never have too many shoes! Happy crafting! ♥
Linda
Linda

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