High Shank Adapter & Low Shank Presser Foot Adapters

A high shank adapter or a low shank adapter is the small metal part that makes snap-on presser feet fit a machine they were not built for. It costs a fraction of a foot set and it is the reason a set you already own can suddenly go on a second machine.

Work out which you need first

Find the thumbscrew that holds the presser foot on. Measure from the centre of that screw down to the needle plate. Half an inch means low shank, which covers most domestic machines built since 1980. Anything appreciably taller is high shank.

Which adapter for which machine?

  • High shank — high-shank Janomes (the MC series), high-shank Kenmores, and heavy-duty domestics.
  • Husqvarna Viking — takes its own low-shank snap-on adapter rather than a generic one.
  • Pfaff and BabyLock — a shared low-shank adapter covers both, including the BabyLock BL and ES model families.
  • Bernina before 1996 and Bernina after 1996 — two different fittings. Bernina changed the design, so the year the machine was made decides which one you need. Getting this wrong is the most common mistake on this page.

Slant-shank Singers are the one case none of these solve.

The other small part worth having

A screw clamp that lets you change feet without hunting for a screwdriver. If you switch between a zipper foot and a walking foot in the same sitting, it pays for itself in irritation saved.

Feet to go on the adapters are in sewing machine presser foot sets — the 32-piece kit already includes three bonus adapters, so check that before buying one separately.