Tuffsew here, your heavy duty sewing machine manufacturer. You landed here because you are searching for some ideas of what makes a walking foot sewing machine different than your regular household sewing machine or your full sized industrial sewing machine. 

There are so many differences, but I will generalize them here and give you some helpful links to visit for more detailed information. Today’s portable walking foot machines are categorized right in between household sewing machines and industrial sewing machines. 

Each one of these sewing machines has distinct capabilities. Here is an image of one:
 

 
Let’s say you have a regular Singer household sewing machine, but it’s just not sewing that 1/4″ soft leather that you are placing under the presser foot. 

Well, it might be time to step up into the walking foot style sewing machine category. These types of machines power through soft leather from 1-8″ to 3/8″ thicknesses. These machines also have bottom and top presser foot, which motions in conjunction with your motor-pulling the fabric through the sewing process from the top and bottom of your material. 

This portable industrial walking foot sewing machine also has a geared belt pulley system- giving you much better penetration power. Another huge difference is the actual needle that you use in a walking foot sewing machine. 

The needle is size 135×17 and feels like a small nail. Your heavy duty materials are no match for such a needle/geared pulley system combination. Here is a video to learn more:
 

 
For more information on what makes a “walking foot” sewing machine different than a household and full sized industrial sewing machine, click Walking Foot Industrial Sewing Machine.

Now let’s get to some applications. So when a person actually buys a walking foot sewing machine, what are they actually using it for? Well, they could be using this style sewing machine for many different materials. Many customers that purchase this style sewing machine use it for vinyl. 

For more information about how to use a walking foot sewing machine for vinyl purposes, click here: How to Sew Thick Vinyl.

What if you are sewing leather? There are so many sewing folks out there who are trying to put layers of coarse leather under the presser foot of their standard household sewing machine. 

Remember, a lot of those machines have plastic gears and parts. You WILL crack those gears and parts eventually, costing you tons of repair costs. If you want to learn how to sew leather with a walking foot style sewing machine, click here: Walking Foot Sewing Machine for Leather. 

What you are sewing canvas, including marine canvas? Walking foot sewing machines are great for this type of material. You definitely don’t want to use a household sewing machine…you might not be able to penetrate the material enough. 

Also, full sized industrial sewing machines might run a bit too fast. So, if you want to learn about sewing marine canvas with a walking foot sewing machine, click here: Walking Foot Sewing Machine for Canvas.

Here is another video which talks about a few more advantages these walking foot machines have over standard household machines:
 

 
Feel free to email us any questions at [email protected].
The TuffSew Team