Can I change my Janome to sew super thick fabrics?

December 26, 2012 12:34 AM

New Sewing Machine Question! I got a new sewing machine for Christmas, a Janome Magnolia 7318, and I love it. My only snag so far is how to sew thick fabrics. I want to sew thick fleeces for stuff for my dogs and the layers are too thick to fit under the stock foot. Is there a different shank I can buy (not sure if that is the right word) that is higher? I tried to google it but no luck.
posted by dottiechang to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Best answer: Are you lifting the presser foot all the way up? I think the 7318 has the feature where there are two heights when you lift the presser foot. There's the normal height, which is what it defaults to, but if you push the lever higher it will catch with the foot higher up. You can then slide your thick fabric in and drop the presser foot, which will then adjust to the thickness of the fabric.

(Was that clear at all? The term is "high presser foot lift". Just play with the lever a bit and see how high the foot will go.)
posted by katemonster at 12:49 AM on December 26, 2012

Best answer: The high presser foot thing may solve the space issue for feeding the fabric in -- but more generally for sewing thick fabrics, you will probably want a walking foot. The walking foot has a set of feed dogs on the foot and helps feed through thick, heavy fabrics much more evenly and easily than the existing bottom feed dogs alone can do.

They tend to be around $30 (maybe more for a Janome? My machine is cheap), but they are most definitely worth it, especially if you're doing a lot of quilting or sewing of heavy fabrics.
posted by pie ninja at 4:07 AM on December 26, 2012

Best answer: The specs on this machine say that it has "Extra-high Presser Foot Lift" (click on Specifications at the bottom of the module, terrible website) so you should be able to just lift it a little higher. Check your manual.

Happy Sewing!
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:15 AM on December 26, 2012

Response by poster: Thank you! You were all correct, I was able to lift the foot higher! I will look into a walking foot next, as I can see that I have to push/pull more with the thicker fabrics.

I am still learning all these new terms, so I appreciate the hand holding. :)
posted by dottiechang at 1:33 PM on December 26, 2012

Best answer: You also need to take much longer stitches in thick material or the needle will bind.
posted by bad grammar at 3:49 PM on December 27, 2012 [1 favorite]