Walking Foot Adventure

Having been frugal, I have to say it did not improve once I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.... that being said, here is my adventure in trying to find the best deal on a walking foot for "my" sewing machine. (It's actually my Mom's.)

I've gotten along without a walking foot making smaller quilts with no binding but have been told by many that it won't be so hard if I just got a walking foot... so, with the recent quilt I just completed, I really needed one to do the binding.

A certain store carried a "Universal" walking foot that should work on most sewing machines for $14.99. I already knew that others have paid $70-$100 on their walking foot so I was bound and determined NOT to pay that price.

"Universal" foot bought and hmmmmm, the screw that I had was too short and needed about 1/8" longer to catch the threads to hold the foot in place. After calling my Dad, I set out for the hardware store to buy a longer screw.

With original screw and machine in tow, young son and I headed out. With assistance from salesman, I purchased two screws for a whopping .29, thanking the salesman and bragging about how much money he just saved me!!! Having now spent $15.29 for my walking foot, young son and I went out to the car to put it all together to make sure it worked...

Hmmmm, walking foot does not reach sewing plate area - not by a long shot. Hmmmm. Still, bound and determined NOT to pay bucho bucks, we set off to next town over to the Viking Sewing Machine Shop. With touch feely 3 year old hands on thousand dollar machines, I did hope this stop would not take long.

After trying several walking feet, I was told, "NO GO!" They would need to order me one because my machine was just too old. I asked if he had a longer shank for the machine so it would make the walking foot I had longer... No. I asked for any other options... none.

Defeated, I limped back to rig with young son in tow. I barely made it to the car before I burst into tears... even though I had a crisp one hundred dollar bill in my wallet, I did NOT want to spend it on a walking foot.

Young son consoles mommy and begs her not to be sad and that he'll buy me lunch if I stop crying.

We meet up with my mom and I whine and lament to her so she says similar thing as young son... "I'll buy you lunch." So, eat we did!

Phone call from Machine Shop - they can order my a walking foot for $105 and it will take 10 days before it's here. Not what I wanted to hear.

Phone call to Viking Machine Shop in big city 30 miles away... yes, they know what I'm talking about... yes, they know the universal walking foot won't work... yes, they understand I don't want to spend bucko bucks.... yes, they have the walking foot I need in stock -last one in stock, actually... yes, they'll hold it for me on the off chance that someone comes in between phone call and drive to big city.... yes, that will be $99.99 plus tax.

Drive to big city with young son and mother in tow.

Meet Ed the Tech. He showed me how to put it on, told me about which needles I should NEVER use on my machine, and taught me that my "C" foot is also a screwdriver that fits all Viking screws. Hmmm. Good to know! Also learned he lives in a small town near me and gave me his card for any "future needs!"

Moral of the story? Sometimes you just have to suck it up and pay bucko bucks because Swiss things just cost a lot.