Brother Side Cutter Foot, SA177, Silver

► Why I like it: When I got it, I was in the middle of designing and making a custom shaped mattress-like pillow for hubby's recliner. He is so tall, that his feet always hang over the foot riser portion when he reclines and the chair always needs pillows under him from one end to the other and then some. He always had to be “tucked in” by me every time he would get up and sit back down, so hence the custom pillow. Having bare legs on the pillows was always cold for him, so when I made it, I selected a nice fuzzy flannel for the top layer. While I was measuring and designing it, I watched as the flannel kept fraying away. So in stepped this presser foot. What you see in the 2nd half of the video is me doing a finishing edge on the flannel piece of his pillow before sewing both sides together. The last thing I wanted to happen was to see it come apart at the seams from his daily use. I consider this presser foot to be a must-have in your arsenal of presser feet if you do not have a serger. So many fabrics unravel or fray so easily. This presser foot with the right stitch and settings will let you sew a beautiful seam while also covering and protecting the edge at the same time. I personally love the look of a nicely finished edge. This foot is super easy to use once you understand how to use it. So let me tell you the secret to making it work like icing on a cake. Once you understand how it works, you can easily “turn it on” and “turn it off” while stitching without loosing a beat or even having to lift your presser foot. The secret is the little bar in the front that runs perpendicular to the direction of sewing. I show it in my video. When you put the fabric on top of it, the cutter cuts while sewing. To make it stop cutting and just still sew the edge, simply place the fabric below this bar. Depending upon how far in you will be sewing from your existing edge, you may or may not need to first do a ¼” to ½” snip in the fabric along the imaginary line of where the cutter would have cut the new edge. The reason you do that is because the needle is located behind the cutting blade, so the cutting blade cannot cut the beginning of your sewing that is in the area between the cutter and the needle when you first start out. But once you get going you will see that the cutter cuts just shortly before the fabric passes to the needle. But if you forget, you can always manually trim off the excess fabric from the starting edge once you remove it from the machine. Again, watch the video and you can see better what I am trying to explain. It is such a simple and easy process once you see how it all works. You should not have ANY fears about using it or not being able to make it work right the first time out the gate. For those of you who are new to using unusual presser feet, there are a few things you need to always keep in mind. First, if your presser foot is large enough to cover your bobbin plate, make sure you have first put in the correct thread color for your bobbin and that it is full enough for what you are going to sew. Second, if your machine has an auto-threader, USE IT BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE FOOT. I cannot stress that enough, as if you try to use it with some oversized and/or odd shaped presser feet, you run the risk of breaking it. Not a fun thing to happen. We LOVE our auto-threaders. Third, when using any presser foot that has a component going over the needle screw bar, always make sure that it is tight before you begin sewing. Check it a few times along the way, as sometimes the shared action will cause it to work itself loose. Fourth, when installing such oversized presser feet, try using your presser foot lifting handle and manually raise and hold it all the way up, past the normal “raised” position. That will give you more room to work to install the presser foot. If your machine does not have this extra play, just drop your feed dogs. Fifth and finally, try a few stitches with the manual wheel first to make sure that your needle has all around clearance and will not break. For those of you wishing to know what settings I used on what I was sewing in the 2nd half of the video, I took a photo of my settings and which stitch I used. ► Pros: Lets you make serger-like stitches without having a serger. ► Cons: None. ► Suggestions for Improvement: Improve on the directions. ► Would I buy again? Yes. ► Purchasing Decision & Questions: I hope I have helped your purchasing decision of this Brother Side Cutter SA177. I am not affiliated with the manufacturer, seller or any other product related company nor am I under any obligation to write this review. I do this for my own fun and pleasure! Feel free to comment and let me know if I have helped you. If you should have any questions, please post them below in the Comments. I try to answer all inquires in a timely fashion to the best of my ability. Lastly, Follow me on Amazon if you wish to be notified as I post new reviews. I promise they will always be meaningful and never of penny ante junk.

VERY happy with this foot. OEM packaging and quality; works beautifully. This foot costs less than half the price of the Babylock sidecutter at my local dealer. Since Brother and Babylock machines at this top-of-the-line level are siblings, it was reasonable to expect that the attachment is the same. All photos and information I could find online bore this out. I was also suspect of whether this would be OEM or some knockoff. The packaging looks authentic and Amazon even included, outside of the pack, a pristine copy of the instructions en español. The metal is smooth, the blade sharp, everything looks exactly as it should. As for function, the purpose of this foot is to trim the seam allowance as the machine zig-zags or makes an overlock stitch over the edge-- thus emulating the function of a serger. Since I own a serger already, my main interest in this is that it will be a game-changer for French seams, trimming them to perfect width (adjustable by changing the needle position toward/away-from the cut edge). Installation is easy-peasy and quick; the only caveat being that you need to place the "fork" of the attachment over the needle-retaining screw so it will operate the scissor-action of the cutter. Otherwise it's the same snap-on as other feet. You do need to begin the cut manually (with scissors) before putting the fabric into the machine. No biggie. And you do need to know where to insert the fabric--hopefully my photo and video will help. I am happy to report that this foot operates flawlessly. One IMPORTANT note in the instructions bears mention: you cannot use the automatic needle-threader on your machine with this foot installed; the attachment is in the way of the threader and attempting this could cause damage to the machine. (The automatic thread-cut function works fine, in case you're wondering.)

My serger is out of commission for about a month, so I thought I'd try this. Took a minute to figure out how to get it on, but it works great.

I like the side cutter foot because it finished a fabric edge like a Serger. If you watch one of the other reviewer's videos on how to use this side cutter presser foot, you will have no problems using the presser foot. I was sewing with this within 2 minutes of installing it on my machine. I have 2 Brother sewing machines and this side cutter works perfectly on one of my machines; on the other machine, the edges are cut jagged in places, and the cut seam is uneven. I surmise that my second machine may be a machine that doesn't work with the side cutter. In the end, I'm happy with this product and will use it only on the one sewing machine. I recommend this side cutter.

I received this the exact same day my new Brother machine arrived. I had heeded the advice of other reviewers and read the instructions in my machine's manual (didn't even look at the instructions that came with the foot). Easy peasy! If you've ever put a walking foot on your machine, you'll understand this with no problem. I also watched a quick youtube video. I then tried it out with one layer that was already cut to size and another that I wanted to attach it to that wasn't yet cut to size/shape. Worked like a charm!! It perfectly cut through the one layer (cotton flannel), effortlessly and the overlock stitch perfectly caught the edge! I'm going to try it on cotton jersey this weekend. My recommendation going into that- for others who have had problems- would be to starch the edge of the jersey (like you would anyway to sew it). I don't anticipate any problems after pre-starching it. GREAT little tool, particularly for folks for whom a serger is still on the Wish List!

It took a couple of attempts to work out how to place the fabric, but once I’d done that, the side cutter works fine. It’ll be very useful for neatening edges on fabric that frays easily. It’s not a cheap item but worth the money. I’ve tried a cheaper alternative but it just didn’t cut. The Brother original is the one to buy. It’s also quick to attach - you don’t need to take any screws off, it just clicks straight on.

Works great! I got this for my Brother sewing machine for smaller jobs and is close to a Seger depending on which stitch is used to sew. Instructions were perfect as it was a little trickier than regular feet to put on and not for very thick fabric.

Funciona excelente.!!!

Works really well. Nearly changes your machine into an overlocker.

Obviously it's not as good as a serger but it's a good tool for this learner. It gives my garments a more professional feel and does a good job of stopping my garments from unraveling. I've been pairing it with one of the overcast stitches on my machine and it comes out looking like a serger seam.