Precise Pedal Power for Sewers

Using a simple lever and an inclined plane I made sewing easier by letting you set your favorite speed range of a foot controlled motor at a reasonable cost. This is most important when precise control is necessary. A common complaint of inexpensive sewing machines is the difficulty to do free motion quilting. See the first picture of what this will help you make. When free motion quilting the sewer is controlling the stitch length by the speed of the machine and the speed the fabric is being moved. A consistent moderate motor speed makes it easier to keep stitches the same length. This also works with your serger.

Background: Sewing machines have used foot controls for over a century to allow a range of speeds from low to high. Sometimes the increments of adjustment are too great. At low speed the machine won’t move and at high speed the machine moves too fast. Speed limiters or governors have been used on the more sophisticated machines using an electronic circuit.

Another common limiter is to mount a block under the edge of the foot control to prevent the maximum speed. This solution prevents the full speed of the machine at all times until the block is removed.

This invention allows you to set the favorite speed and still have the full range of speeds the machine is capable of.

Foot Control

Inclined Plane= 1/8" plywood 4" x 7" + anti-slip strip + plywood corner support

Fulcrum for lever =+ 3/4" square block of wood + 1/4' X 20 "T" nut + Leg from Sew Steady Table

2" X 3" Heavy duty Double stick tape.

Black Spray Paint

The early designs to solve this problem were way too complicated. The mantra was to simplify the design. I started with metal hinges and clips that moved and twisted. I ended up going back to a simple inclined plane and a lever.

Glue the block to the underside top corner of the plywood and reinforce the corner with the triangular gusset.

Drill a 1/2" hole in the block and drive in the T-nut.

Paint the assembly.

Screw the leg into the T-nut.

Attach the assembly to your foot control with the double stick tape.

Apply the anti-slip pad to the top of the pedal.

Adjust the height of the pedal to your favorite speed by screwing it into the T-nut.

I found in experimenting that placing a single leg off center allowed you to still have the full range of speed control by adjusting how you pushed your foot on the pedal. In the first image the pedal is not being pushed. As you start out slow you find the leg limits you to your favorite speed. If you need to go faster you can continue pushing the foot further by rocking your foot to the right.

Once you have a good design the next step is to make it better. I replaced the three boards with a piece of acrylic 4" X 7" using a flat head screw countersunk into the plastic. This was attached to a coupling nut to screw the leg into the opposite side. This allows you to change the flat head screw and make it fit on multiple sizes of foot controls. Then I had an epiphany why not call Sew Steady whose legs I used and ask them if they would like to build my design.

After contacting Sew Steady they liked that I used the parts from one of their tables to build a product lots of sewers would need. In a few weeks they built this for me and launched it with a great looking logo laser etched into the pedal. They even offered to send me a royalty if any sell. But of course you now know how to build your own.

P.S. This is not limited to sewing machines you can even use it on your TIG Welder pedal.