I love to quilt but one of the quilting things I don’t like to do is hand stitch my bindings. I do a good job but it takes so long to do – I could be making another quilt! I know that some quilters machine bind their projects and I thought it was time that I found out how to do this. Lucky for me (and you!), Janome has a special foot that really helps to make machine binding your projects quick and easy.

The Janome AcuFeed Ditch Quilting foot (SD foot) is an optional accessory that you can buy to fit on your AcuFeed Dual Feed holder (AD foot). This SD foot isn’t really meant for stitching on bindings: it’s for stitching in the ditch, and it works very well for that, but I was hopeful that this foot might be the solution to my “I hate to hand stitch my bindings” issue.

SD foot and AcuFeed Flex foot holder with AD foot attached

SD Foot and AD Foot – off the AcuFeed Flex foot holder

The AcuFeed Flex foot holder that comes with the Janome M7 has the AD foot but you can switch out the foot on the holder and insert another foot, such as the SD one. It’s easy to do this.  (ED: Other Janome machine models also have the Acufeed flex foot system. If you have the Acufeed flex foot holder in the pic below, then you can do exactly the same as what Kim explains in this post. The AD sole plate is a standard accessory if your machine has Acufeed flex. But the SD Ditch quilting sole plate is an optional accessory which you will need to purchase at your favourite authorized Janome dealer) 

AcuFeed Flex foot holder with no foot attached

You’ll notice that there are grooves along the side of the AcuFeed Dual Feed holder and there are pins on either side of the foot. The pins on the foot slide into the grooves on the foot holder. To remove the existing AD foot from the AcuFeed Dual Feed holder, just grip and firmly pull the foot towards the front of the foot holder. You may need to pull at a slight angle to remove it. Once the foot is removed, you can replace it by sliding a new foot onto the holder ensuring that the pins on the foot fit into the grooves on the foot holder. Easy peasy!

AcuFeed Flex foot holder with SD foot attached

I switched out the AD foot for the AcuFeed Ditch Quilting foot (SD foot) on the AcuFeed Dual Feed holder so it would be all set up to help me stitch my binding onto my project. Once I’d attached the foot to the Janome M7, I needed to choose Utility stitch 1 and ensure that I pressed on the icon to activate the AcuFeed Flex system. ( see yellow icons on the screen pic below) 

Choose the Utility 1 setting and activate the AcuFeed Flex system

Now that my Janome M7 was all set up, it was time to get my project in place. I like to stitch my binding to the front of my project and pull the binding around to the back where it would normally be hand stitched down but not this time! I typically press my binding to the back of my quilt and then use clips or pins to hold it in place. I did the same thing to get ready to machine stitch my binding down.

Clips or pins help to hold the binding in place

You’ll notice that there is a metal guide on the SD foot. This guide will run right along the ditch between the quilt top and the binding. Once the foot is properly positioned, you just start to stitch, ensuring that the metal guide continues to ride right in that ditch.

The metal guide should be right against the binding when stitching

I kept my fingers and toes crossed and did a sample to see how everything turned out.

Front of binding

Back of binding

What do you think? I think it worked out very well and any wobbles would be my fault and not that of the AcuFeed Ditch Quilting foot.

I was really pleased with the result using this foot and thrilled by how much quicker this is than having to hand stitch my project. The stitching at the front was nicely hidden in the ditch and the back of the binding was stitched down securely. One thing I would suggest when machine stitching your binding in this manner is to match your top thread to the quilt top – or use invisible thread – and to use a coordinating thread to the binding fabric in the bobbin. You won’t then see the stitching as you can in my sample.

ED: An alternative option to what Kim explains so clearly above,  is to sew the binding to the BACK of the quilt and then flip and press the binding to the front. Then use the same Acufeed flex SD foot to sew the binding down on the top of the quilt. Ride the ditch guide along the edge of the binding like above but you won’t stitch in that ditch, of course, as you would not “catch” the binding but you would move your needle position a little to the right and stitch along the edge of the binding OR you can select a decorative stitch and stitch it down along the edge of the binding or even straddling the edge and partially on the quilt top – depends what look you want? I love to do this as my quilt edges are so pretty ….and very quick to do! 

If you want to try machine stitching your quilt bindings, check with your local Janome Dealer to see if the AcuFeed Ditch Quilting foot (SD foot) will fit your Janome machine. Ed: We also have the Convertible Evenfeed foot set for High and low shank 7mm and 9mm sewing machines. 

Happy creating from Kim Jamieson-Hirst of Chatterbox Quilts, a Janome Canada Artisan in Calgary, Alberta.