Creative articles about sewing

BERNINA Overlock1300MDC: changing the presser foot

It’s not too difficult to change presser feet with the BERNINA Overlocker 1300MDC , but still some owners of this machine have asked me to explain it to them.

I would like to use the Elasticator for a future project, so I have to remove the Standard presser foot first. I will check my manual: page 18 shows how to do this, with two drawings for reference in the upper left column.


The image above shows the Elasticator on the left, and the Standard presser foot on the right, facing you.


With the picture above, you can see the presser foot pin: a metallic ridge, which will have to fit into the groove of the shaft – they have to line up (see arrows). There has to be an actual ‘click’ sound, if all fits well. Check this, before sewing.

To the left of the Standard presser foot, at the presser foot shank, you will see a metallic spring: it rests in a groove of this presser foot.  I will mention this again  later.


With the directions ‘Changing the presser foot’, it tells you to raise the presser foot. To do this, turn the handwheel in the normal direction (indicated by the arrow) until the red stop mark of the handwheel indiactor is centered in the window (red square).


To loosen the Standard presser foot from the clamp, press the catch (C): a black catch located at the back of the shank, which am pressing with my thumb.


The presser foot is released instantly, but the thin and long metallic spring is still resting in the groove of the presser foot! This item is not mentioned in the directons of the manual, but very important to notice before removing the presser foot by sliding it to the side. The three green arrows show you this spring, the arrow on the right tells you where the spring sits in the groove of the Standard presser foot: you have to lift the spring to remove the foot properly.


The picture above shows that I am lifting the metallic spring gently, before removing the (already loosened) presser foot competely.


To remove the presser foot completely, raise the presser foot shank in the highest position (B): up and up again!


Now the Elasticator can be placed under the shank: gently lift the thin metallic spring again, slide the Elasticator from the back/left under the shank: be sure the presser foot pin is directly under the groove of the shank. Lower the presser foot shank completely, and wait for the ‘click’, that indicates the new presser foot is connected properly.


The metallic spring will not sink into a groove of the Elasticator, but lies on top of the foot (green arrow). Now I can use this presser foot.

Sometimes it takes some practice to change feet with the  BERNINA Overlock 1300MDC, simply because it seems you will need three hands, but by change them more often, things will literally ‘fall into place’. There are so many more presser feet for really fun possibilities!

Have fun and see you next time!

Sylvia Kaptein
Sylvia’s Art Quilts Studio

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