How to Use the Foot Pedal on a Sewing Machine

Old sewing machines required the sewer to pump a foot pedal. With each pump of the foot pedal, the sewing machine made one stitch. Modern sewing machines have electronic foot pedals. By pressing down on the foot pedal, a sewer can make several stitches, sometimes as many as 500 stitches per second, depending on the sewing machine.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Plug your foot pedal in to your sewing machine. Newer sewing machines have the foot pedal permanently attached. If you're working on your grandmother's old sewing machine, however, this might not be the case.

2. Set your sewing machine to the proper stitch. Usually you can do this by turning a dial on the sewing machine. In many cases, changing the stitch shape will also change the maximum speed your sewing machine will sew, regardless of how hard you press on the foot pedal.

3. Make sure you do not have a speed lever on your sewing machine. Do this step just in case your sewing machine's speed cannot be controlled by changing the stitch, as you did in Step 2.

4. Get your sewing machine ready to operate. Thread it. Place fabric on it. Lower the foot. Turn the sewing machine on. This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you operate an electronic sewing machine, you need to have the power feeding into it before you can begin sewing.

5. Press your toe on the foot pedal. On many sewing machines, the lighter you press on the foot pedal, the slower the sewing machine will move. If you press the foot pedal all the way down, you will get the fastest stitch that your sewing machine can do.

Tips & Warnings

• When you place your foot pedal on the floor, make sure the taller part is facing your foot. This is the part you will press your foot on to make your sewing machine run.