Person using sewing machine by pressing cushion in wheelchair

Sewing Machine Pedal Adaptation and Speed Cap

Ellen
Bristol
12-25-06
Complete
0 comments

Our client, Emily, wanted to use her sewing machine, but was unable to operate a pedal by foot. We fit the pedal into a cushion that fits into the back of her wheelchair so that it can be pressed by leaning back on it. We also capped the speed of the sewing machine simply by putting a short piece of a pencil inside the spring, making the adaptation safer to use.

Thank you to Steve for your genius ideas on this project!

The Challenge

Emily wanted to be able to use her sewing machine again, but was unable to operate the pedal with her foot. She was able to use the machine to mend or alter garments by turning the wheel manually, but this was too slow to work for most projects.

Although there are sewing machines with digital speed controls and start/stop buttons which can be used without the foot pedal, Emily already owned a machine without these features and wanted to know if there was a simple solution to help her use the machine she already had and was comfortable with.

Because the foot pedal is mains operated, we did not want to risk tampering with the electronics, so looked into solutions that would allow us to keep the pedal intact. Emily also requested a way to cap the speed, as her machine was very fast, which made controlling it more difficult.

The solution

The solution to capping the speed was a very simple one. By cutting a short length of a pencil and fitting it into the spring inside the pedal, the amount it can be pressed is manually capped.

We then took an off-cut of fairly dense upholstery foam and sculpted it to fit the back of Emily’s wheelchair. This was a process of trial and error, and needed to be as thin as possible in order to still be comfortable to sit with. Once the foam was shaped, a section to fit the pedal had to be cut out from the middle, allowing the pedal to sit slightly proud and be easier to press.

The cushion cover is designed to fit around the foam snugly to keep it in place, but is looser around the pedal to avoid accidentally holding it in a pressed position. There is also a zip along the side to allow the pedal to be removed if necessary.