In sewing terms what is a feed dog?

Question

I'm trying to learn how to sew and I've had some questions. Like what is a feed dog, and what is a foot lifter?

Answer 1

A feed dog is the toothed piece on the sewing machine that helps feed material under the needle.

Answer 2

All good answers.  If you're having trouble finding your feed dogs (should be on either side of where the needle goes at its lowest point), then they might be "lowered".  Most sewing machines let you lower the feed dogs so you can manually control how the fabric gets fed.  You'd do this if you're doing free-motion embroidery or quilting.  

The way you lower feed dogs varies by machine -- quite often, there's a button that handles it.  

If you put your finger on top of a saw-tooth feed dog and manually turn the handwheel, you can feel whether or not the feed dog is pushing above the needleplate or not (be sure not to poke your finger with the needle!)

One other thing about the foot lifter -- it's sometimes on the "right" side  befind the presser foot!  Just put your hand behind the part of the machine where the needle bar emerges.  You'll feel a lever on the left side, the rear side, or the right side.

Some machines (like some Berninas) let you use a leg bar to raise the presser foot with your leg.  The benefit here is that you don't have to use a hand to do it -- so that your hands can be positioning fabric and such.

Answer 3

I believe the feed dog is the sawtooth looking thing on the base of the sewing machine under where the needle goes.  It grabs the fabric and pulls it through.

The foot lifter is the lever (usually on the back of machine, near needle) that lifts the presser foot up and down.  That way you can get the fabric under the needle.

These are pretty basic terms...  I suggest getting somebody to show you the basics.  You can do damage to the machine if you do things wrong.  Just threading the machine is an art in and of itself.

Answer 4

The "Feed Dogs" are the saw blade looking things under the "Foot" that holds the material down so the needle can go through the material with the thread.

The "Foot Lifter" is the handle on the left-back or left-side of the machine to raise the "Foot" so material can be inserted or removed without tearing the cloth.