I have purchased a number of specialty presser feet. One of them is a “Teflon presser foot” (also known as a “non-stick presser foot” or an “ultra-glide presser foot”).
What does it look like
If you’ve used a universal presser foot (aka zigzag presser foot) you will recognize the shape of a Teflon presser foot. On the left is my universal presser foot and on the right is my Teflon presser foot. These are both low-shank, snap on feet.
Another style of non-stick foot only has the Teflon material on the underside. Similarly, Teflon patches can be temporarily adhered to the bottom of a universal foot to approximate a non-stick presser foot. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve read that sticking a piece of clear tape to the bottom of a universal presser foot may achieve similar glide to a non-stick presser foot.
What does it do
A non-stick presser foot can be used to sew the same stitches that a universal presser foot is used for. The advantage of the non-stick presser foot is increased glide. This is particularly helpful if you are sewing “sticky” materials like vinyl, leather or plastic.
How well does it work
I’ve owned my Teflon/non-stick presser foot for several years. I found it helpful for sewing projects like luggage tags (vinyl) and the Faux Leather Handbag (faux leather). It worked well… gliding more smoothly over the materials than my universal presser foot. I’ve also tried using my non-stick presser foot to sew some small quilting projects like the Sweet Bedside Caddy. In this scenario it did not perform well. The caddy’s many layers contributed several millimeters of thickness and my non-stick presser foot did not provide enough friction to enable my sewing machine’s feed dogs to advance the fabric.
Here’s a photo of my Teflon foot being used to sew some faux leather scraps.
In this photo I’m top-stitching the same faux leather scraps.
Here you can see the finished sample.
Do you have experience sewing with Teflon/non-stick presser feet? What projects have you had success with?
Tanya
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