I disagree you shouldn't adjust the presser foot pressure. I'm a garment sewest, and I adjust it all the time. I sew a lot of stretch woven and knit fabrics. If there's too much pressure, the top layer of fabric will stretch more than the bottom layer, especially with stretch fabrics, and by the end of the seam the top layer of fabric will be too long. If there's not enough pressure, I get flagging. I'm always looking for the balance.
My two primary sewing machines are a vintage Pfaff 6091 and a modern Bernina 570. The Pfaff has IDT and no presser foot pressure adjustment. The Bernina has both dual feed and pressure adjustment. The Pfaff never has issues with the top layer of fabric stretching out, but it is more prone to flagging. On the other hand, the Bernina never flags but always stretches the top layer of fabric out (even with dual feed) unless I reduce the presser foot pressure from the default, which I always do. I think the Pfaff has fixed light presser foot pressure, which works well with the IDT unless you have a fabric prone to flagging. The Bernina seems to calibrated so the default pressure works *without* dual feed. Any time I sew something shifty, like a lightweight silk, I sew it on the Pfaff because I know it won't stretch out the top layer of fabric. Any time I sew a fabric prone to flagging and skipped stitches, like a dense, stretchy ponte, I sew it with the Bernina. I guess if you always sew non-stretch fabric you wouldn't need to change it, but that's not me.
The Bernina default presser foot pressure is set to 70 out of 100 (except I think it goes negative instead of starting at zero?) which is way too much for anything I sew, and it resets to the default every time I turn the machine off. If you could ask the Bernina folks to add a permanent presser foot pressure setting to their next firmware update for me, that would be amazing!
I disagree you shouldn't adjust the presser foot pressure. I'm a garment sewest, and I adjust it all the time. I sew a lot of stretch woven and knit fabrics. If there's too much pressure, the top layer of fabric will stretch more than the bottom layer, especially with stretch fabrics, and by the end of the seam the top layer of fabric will be too long. If there's not enough pressure, I get flagging. I'm always looking for the balance.
My two primary sewing machines are a vintage Pfaff 6091 and a modern Bernina 570. The Pfaff has IDT and no presser foot pressure adjustment. The Bernina has both dual feed and pressure adjustment. The Pfaff never has issues with the top layer of fabric stretching out, but it is more prone to flagging. On the other hand, the Bernina never flags but always stretches the top layer of fabric out (even with dual feed) unless I reduce the presser foot pressure from the default, which I always do. I think the Pfaff has fixed light presser foot pressure, which works well with the IDT unless you have a fabric prone to flagging. The Bernina seems to calibrated so the default pressure works *without* dual feed. Any time I sew something shifty, like a lightweight silk, I sew it on the Pfaff because I know it won't stretch out the top layer of fabric. Any time I sew a fabric prone to flagging and skipped stitches, like a dense, stretchy ponte, I sew it with the Bernina. I guess if you always sew non-stretch fabric you wouldn't need to change it, but that's not me.
The Bernina default presser foot pressure is set to 70 out of 100 (except I think it goes negative instead of starting at zero?) which is way too much for anything I sew, and it resets to the default every time I turn the machine off. If you could ask the Bernina folks to add a permanent presser foot pressure setting to their next firmware update for me, that would be amazing!
It’s wonderful to read your newsletter again. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season with family.