Bernina Ruler Foot

I was blessed to have a customer and free motion quilting student come into the shop last week so I could take a look at her Bernina and its new ruler foot. As a Janome dealer whose shop now sells fabric, I couldn't work up the nerve to visit my local Bernina dealership and quilt shop to ask about this new foot.

I should have her come in more often. As soon as she came in, we got very busy during a time when the shop is usually fairly slow. This meant we didn't have much time to actually stitch with it and I wish I had taken a little more time with her to reward her for letting me see this new #72 Bernina ruler foot.

I shot a quick video, but nothing of either of us stitching. It wasn't the best footage, so I'm going to pass on posting it.

I like it. For Bernina machines of course. I still love my Janome foot. This Bernina version comes the closest to the Janome foot than anything else on the market. The height is easily adjustible with a thubscrew and there's give to how it attaches to the machine like my Janome foot, which helps it glide over bulk better than a solidly attached foot.

It has a little cut out in front of the needle for visibility too. This foot hopped on the machine she brought in, so it needs to use 1/4 inch thick rulers. I don't know if it can be adjusted with machine settings like Patsy Thompson did with the Janome ruler foot she put on one of her Berninas so it won't hop. It isn't a clackity clack kind of hopping like the generic spring type free motion feet. I'm guessing some Bernina free motion feet might move like this as well. The hopping will help it move over bulky seams well.

My customer tells me that the foot is made so it won't crash into the needle clamp if you go down with the needle with the foot up. I admit, I am so used to making sure the foot is down, I never checked this out. It's a great feature.

As far as rulers go, Bernina is selling their own rulers now, but from what I've seen so far, they are regular long arm rulers that have been available for some time, but now these have the Bernina name on them. Again, this foot needs 1/4 inch thick rulers.

The new ruler foot works on newer machines only.

Here's what I got from a Bernina Ambassador:

The Adjustable Ruler foot #72 is compatible with our current line of machines; the 3 Series, 4 and 5 Series, and 7 and 8 Series. It is not compatible with previous generations of machines with four digits in the model number or earlier. This foot is separate from the BERNINA Stitch Regulator, and is not compatible with BSR. Please check in with your local BERNINA store to find out more about the Adjustable Ruler foot #72 and ruler sets, if the foot is compatible with your model BERNINA, price and availability.

For more information, check with your Bernina dealer as I am a Janome girl, through and through.

If your machine can use this new foot and you already have a different foot, should you switch? That is entirely up to you. If your budget allows, I'd say yes. The foot isn't cheap and if you had any of the other options out there, you likely have some thinner rulers that you can't safely use with this foot.