Journey Lubbock

Are feet on sewing machines specific to the exact model?

I have a Brother XL 4011 with a missing little foot (i think its called a presser foot – the metal thing that clamps down on the material while you sew)
Was just wondering if I had to buy a specific foot for that model or if its a general standard foot that all dewing machines have or just Brother uses? Confused by google results

There are many types of presser feet, but it sounds like you want the all purpose foot, and I believe this machine takes snap-on feet. There’s a more than fair chance you can find one at Walmart or any of the chain fabric stores, or virtually any sewing machine repair shop.

There are four major categories of how feet attach, plus some specialty styles like Bernina. IIRC, most of the recent Brothers are snap on; earlier were low shank, but I’m not an expert. The URL below has illustrations.

http://www.a1sewingmachine.com/parts.html

The snap on feet go on a plastic ankle, which you can see here on my Viking — I took the foot off to make it easier to see what was going on with bobbin threading for a series I did for someone else:
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/22801244 — it’s the white plastic thing in the upper middle of the first photo. If I take the ankle off that machine, I can use low shank feet from another manufacturer.
In general, though, I find that the manufacturer’s own feet tend to do the best job — so Viking feet on Vikings, Pfaff feet on Pfaffs, etc. But the generic feet and another manufacturer’s feet do work if you swap between the same type and same width of zigzag capability. But no, you don’t have to buy feet that are specific for the model.

If you can’t find one locally, consider Ron at A1 sewing above… I’ve “known” him for years as a helpful contributor on alt.sewing — I’m pretty sure he can find one for you.

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