How to attach a Janome walking foot

Have you ever purchased a walking foot for a Janome sewing machine? And looked at the rather scant instruction for installing the foot? Then looked at your machine? Then looked again at the walking foot? And realised that the instructions should state:

WARNING: Any resemblance between the walking foot in this diagram and the one that you are holding in your hand is purely coincidental. Small but crucial parts have been omitted from the illustration, so that you will feel like banging your head against a wall.

Yes? Well, go put an icepack on your head and relax. Today's entry is from me to you with love. (Its also intended to replace a well-visited link to some very faded old instructions I scanned and uploaded ages ago).

Trust me, once you attach your walking foot you are going to just love it. So let's get started ...


Press the red button on the foot attachment to release the existing presser foot. Put the foot to one side.


Using a screwdriver, undo the set screw on the side of the foot holder. (A magnetic screwdriver - the sort that will grab the loose screw - is very handy.)


Remove the foot holder from the vertical presser bar and set it to one side in a safe place. (Don't let your three-year-old play with it or you're a goner. Its very hard to reattach your other presser feet without this contraption)


Put the little set screw somewhere safe! You will need it again in a minute.


Take the walking foot and raise the lever.


Keep the lever raised and hook the walking foot around the presser bar. Line the foot up vertically, so that you can insert the set screw.


Put the set screw in and tighten with the screwdriver.


Make sure the walking foot is nice and sturdy. The lever should be resting on top of the needle clamp.


Hooray! The walking foot is ready to use.

Now a word of encouragement: the more practice you get at attaching and removing the foot the better. It can be a bit fiddly to start with, but the process does become easier ( ... and I speak from the point of view of a hopeless butter-fingers). Whilst its awfully tempting to put the foot on and then leave it there, be aware there are some types of sewing that really shouldn't be done with a walking foot!

If you wish to attach the quilting guide, you simply push it into the slot at the back and move it left or right to set the desired width.