The Greist Decorative Zigzagger

Greist Zigzagger

Here I go with yet another zigzagger attachment.  This one goes up against my little Chadwicke's that I reviewed earlier.  I found this one and thought it deserved a bit of a test as they are fairly common and Greist makes very good accessories for many models of machines.  The one drawback to older strait stitch only machines is, well, they are strait stitch only.  There are times a zig zag stitch is handy to have such as with edge finishes on exposed inner seams.  Because of this I like to have a zig zag attachmentclose at hand even for this limited use.  Here's another one I've found. How does it work?  Does it work?
Background Information
These are made for strait stitch machines, I used a low shank Singer 221 (Featherweight) but this would be good for any low shank strait stitcher.  Some examples would be the Singer models 201, 15-91, 27, 28,127, 128, 66 (not the back clampers), Pfaff 131.

Greist Zigzagger with Templates

The Zigzagger comes with a permanent template for making a basic zig zag stitch and has some additional ones for embroidery type designs to add if you want to change the look.  There is a thumb screw for hooking it up to your machine.   The red colored part is a removable snap to hold the extra templates in place.

Attaching the Zigzagger

How to Use:
*Remove presser foot, keep presser bar up.
*Hook the Zig Zagger to the presser bar and at the same time make sure the "arm" hook is on the needle scew.  This is just like a buttonholer.

Note: I was having some trouble with adjustments on this at first, only to find my machine's thread cutter was in the way of the zigzagger's movement.  You can simply turn the needle threader to the back by pushing it .

Adjust Width of Zigzag with This

* Adjust the width of the Zig Zag stitch by making loosening the screw then moving the metal bar.  The #1 is the most narrow zig zag stitch.  Adjustment of the spacing of the zig zag stitch is done by your machine's stitch length lever.

Template Snap

 If you want to change a template, remove this snap.

It comes off just like this....

Adding the little template.

Changing the template is easy, I do it right on the machine.  The snap is just like a clothing snap, works great for this.  The template goes on right over the permanent one.

*When ready, lower presser bar and start slowly with stitches.  That's all!  It moves all over, don't worry.

Here is what the zig zag looks like on fabric:

Zigzagger Samples

 Does it work?  Yes, but the quality is not that great with the simple zig zag but it is OK.  The patterned decorative stitches are better.  I find it difficult to get a significant change in the width of the stitch in the simple zigzag setting.  Strangely, I have the same problem with my other one, the Chadwicks Zizagger.  The extra templates make some good stitches like the ones shown above.  They might be handy if using knits or you want to hem with a simple blind stitch.  Because it can do both, it might be  a nice addition to a traveling sewing tool kit.
As a final note, I suggest making up a sample with the number of the template written in ink for each setting.  They all look alike and this will save you a lot of testing later.  Do the same for the zig zag  and it's settings.