That Little Green Box

I've always assumed that everyone was familiar with all the common feet that came in the little green box with old Singer machines.  I've used them all my life and never gave it a second thought.  But recently I've noticed people asking about these attachments as if they aren't familiar with them. And I've also noticed that some of the modern versions - like the ruffler foot - are rather pricey.  But if you have a low or slant shank sewing machine, you can use any of these vintage attachments.  They are dirt cheap - you can usually get an entire box of assorted attachments like this on eBay for about $20.  (Make sure you get the proper attachments - low or slant shank - for your machine.)

First up is the binder attachment.  Most of these have multiple slots for different widths of bias tape.

(Actually supposed to be in the second slot, my bad!)

I used 1/2" single fold bias tape.  I inserted it into the second largest slot which is easier to do BEFORE attaching it to the machine.

Slide your fabric in between the folded tape and sew.  Easy as that.

Even better, you can use unfolded bias strips of 15/16" that you make yourself.  You insert this into the largest slot, and it will fold and apply the strip all in one step:

How about that?

Next is the ruffler.  In spite of being the most intimidating looking of all the feet in your box, this one is actually one of the easiest to use.  And its kind of fun too. 

Those numbered notches indicate how many stitches will be made between each pleat. (The * setting is for doing straight stitch without removing the foot.)  You can adjust stitch length along with these settings to get the fullness you want.     

Here I have it set on 6, which means a pleat every six stitches.

Perfect pleats in seconds, and so easy to do.

A little faster this time, and on a different machine:

One of the trickier feet to master is the rolled hem foot.  But once you get the hang of it, it makes a beautiful, perfect hem.  Just keep in mind that the softer and lighter the fabric, the trickier it can be. For those fabrics, try lightly starching the edge to be hemmed to give it enough body to behave in the hemmer.

The trick is to finger press the hem a couple of inches before you start.  Take a couple of stitches, then lift the presser foot and wiggle your hem into the scroll, then lower it and stitch away.  

Once you get going, just make sure to feed the fabric evenly into the scroll so it doesn't turn under too much or too little. 

Perfect, tiny rolled hem edge

Then there's the edgestitcher.  The simplest thing is does is stitch right on the edge of the fabric.  

If you're into heirloom sewing, you can use it to join two pieces of lace right on the very edge:

Right on the very edge -  with matching thread the join would be invisble

The adjustable hemmer also takes some practice, and I never use it.  

But just to prove it CAN be done, here you go:

                 And of course the zipper foot is a common, every day foot that needs no explanation

And the ever so humble gathering foot shouldn't be overlooked.  It is perfect for when you need just a little gathering to ease in a sleeve cap, for example.  This is easier and less "messy" than drawing up a gathering thread.  (The longer the stitch, the fuller the gathers.)