List Price: $129.00
Sale Price: $49.99
Today's Bonus: 61% Off
I have used all these attachments for several weeks now; since I am new to sewing I took my time in learning how to use them. First of all they are metal, and sturdy and very well made. I have a Brother LS2521i and they fit perfectly. The rolled hem attachments are awesome, a must have. Your hems come out perfect. The Binder foot was a little tricky to use, but that was my lack of experience since I tried to use a jersey fabric that was too thick and the width of the strip of fabric I was using for bias tape was too wide. After measuring correctly and watching some videos I found in YouTube on using that same attachment it finally worked (after quite a few tries).
The EdgeSticher foot was also a little tricky to use, but again reading the directions several times and finally finding a YouTube video did the trick. Also a very useful foot to have!
I have a book called The Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook by Charlene Phillips that helped me immensely to choose the sewing foot atachments I needed.
Bottom line, they are very nice and do their job. As far as the Binder foot, I might just buy or make bias tape and use the other Distinctive Tape-Sticher presser foot to attach it.
The only thing I wish it had was a nice case like the other Distinctive foot sets.
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I bought the distinctive (and the brother narrow hem foot which are the same thing so stay away from that too imo)and tried to use it on anything. It will only work on lightweight fabrics and even then the stitching is hard to look uniform. The stitches look wonky and the hem is incredibly small (5mm or less). I decided to just go for it and get the "distinctive" rolled hem foot set which has seven different and USEFUL sized hems (like 1/4" and 5/8", etc.)and give you a chance to keep those hems clean and professional looking. This is the set to get!It is $50 for the set, but i am so much happier to have hemming feet that actually work!
Best Deals for Distinctive 7-8", 5-8", 3-8", 1-4" Wide Rolled Hem Hemmer Foot
Back in the day, a manufacturer called Greist (sometimes spelled Griest) made feet and attachments for many brands of sewing machine. Greist made sets of hemmers *just like these* except these are not quite as sturdy as the vintage ones. Some are labeled Greist; some were made by Greist but branded by Singer, Sears Kenmore (look for the Kenmore "Sew By Color" set), and other companies. For decades, most dressmakers acquired sets of Greist feet and attachments. As a result, sets of Greist hemmers in exactly this design and exactly these sizes are *all over* eBay, Etsy, yard sales, and other places where you can buy vintage stuff. You can buy a full set of vintage hemmers for $10 to $25, in excellent, clean, and fully usable condition, if you look around eBay and Etsy for a day or two. Some are much more expensive, but avoid those. I have a $10 vintage set I use on my Bernina 1008. They work great. Then I stupidly went and bought a nonreturnable set of hemmers manufactured in China for $50, only to discover they were precisely the same design as my vintage hemmers and I had just wasted $50.Because Greist was making attachments for many machines, before you buy any you do need to examine how they will, well, attach to your sewing machine. The reproduction design being sold here has the "keyhole attachment." You must use it with what Greist called the "attachment foot," which is shown in the upper-right corner of the photo of these reproduction feet. The attachment foot enables you to use the hemmer on a machine that takes low-shank screw-on feet, with or without an adapter specific to your machine. (If you need such an adapter, you'll have to buy that elsewhere.) Some vintage sets of hemmers come with the attachment foot, some not. You also see the attachment feet sold separately, both new and as reproductions.
Instead of this keyhole style, Greist made some of their hemmers in the low-shank side-screw style that was usual before snap-on feet became common. You can buy adapters to use side-screw feet with some modern machines. I have an adapter for my Bernina 1008 that enables me to use low-shank screw-on feet, which means I can use vintage zipper feet (both standard, and adjustable to either side of the zipper), bias binding feet, edge-stitching feet, and other designs. They work just as well as modern presser feet. Everybody had at least half a dozen or so presser feet in addition to hemmers, and lots are for sale cheap. Greist also made rufflers and tuckers, and one of each is often included in sets of vintage presser feet. I'm mentioning this because your $10 box of hemmers may well include a number of other useful items. You'll probably also get a seam guide of the kind that screws onto the sewing machine, a little measuring gizmo to aid in cutting out bias strips, and a little screwdriver or two. The vintage manual on how to use the hemmers and other attachments may come with your box of attachments. If not, search for the several Greist and Singer manuals that have been posted online. There is also a very good modern manual called The Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook.
There is another kind of Greist hemmer and presser foot attachment, consisting of two prongs extending back from the foot (fork style) instead of the keyhole shown here. I know of no way to attach the prong style to any modern machine. Greist also made slant-shank feet and attachments for Singer. If you don't have a Singer that uses slant-shank feet, don't buy those.
Many modern home machines use low-shank feet, which means the part extending vertically up from the foot (the ankle) is about half an inch high. These reproduction hemmers are low shank. Many modern industrial machines use high-shank feet, where the ankle is about an inch high. Greist made both low-shank and high-shank hemmers and other attachments. You need to know which fits your machine before buying. If the seller does not list whether these are low-shank or high-shank hemmers or presser feet, ask. If they don't know what you are talking about because they found the feet in Aunt Martha's attic and don't have a clue what they are, ask them to measure the shank height for you.
Honest reviews on Distinctive 7-8", 5-8", 3-8", 1-4" Wide Rolled Hem Hemmer Foot
I've been sewing this and that, old school style, for many years now and finally bit the bullet, purchased this package of hemmer feet. I was a little scared, many videos and comments said the larger size hemmer was difficult to use. The results were fairly good and simple, actually. I had a napkin hemmer foot that just hooked on the machine without need of an adapter, so I knew how the hemmers worked. The larger hemmer worked the same, you just have to make sure to curve around the material with your hand as you feed it to get a smooth result.One thing that's missing from the "instructions" (and I use this term loosely, the insert lack a LOT of info readily available on the internet, though) is how to install it. I know I sound crazy saying that, but this only fits a LOW shank machine. For me, it fit my Kenmore-a-saurus made sometime back in the early 90's. I hadn't used it for quite a few years and it's definitly a different shank than my newer machine. The hemmer feet install a little weird. Installation instructions are pretty vague for the recreational sewer like me. A picture for the sewing-impaired would've been helpful. I messed around with it and was about to return it, thinking it didn't fit, when I chanced upon a site with a picture of it in use. I'll probably post one on Amazon to help out others like me that have trouble reading instructions designed to put you to sleep. ;-)
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