Hey y’all, you may have just got a sewing machine and you’ve never used one, or it’s been a while since you’ve had one. And you may need a little help figuring out the machine, so this post is about the different parts of a sewing machine. Just looking at a sewing machine for the first time can be overwhelming, with all those levers and buttons. You’re sewing machine may be a little different than mine, but all machines have basically the same parts. Some are fancy with extra buttons and stitches, and some are just basic machines.
Don’t forget to pin this post by clicking on the pic below.
And if you need help threading your sewing machine or winding a bobbin be sure to check out my other starting to stitch posts.
The top of the sewing machine
I am going to start with the parts on the top of the sewing machine.
This the spool pin and the spool cap. The spool pin on your sewing machine maybe either a vertical or horizontal pin, and the spool cap helps keep the thread spool on the pin. If the spool pin on your machine is vertical, then you don’t have to place your spool cap on the pin.
This little medal piece is the first thread guide this is for winding your bobbin or threading your machine. The other thing next to it is the second thread guide (your sewing machine may not have the second thread guide), and it’s also for winding your bobbin or threading the machine.
This little hook and disc is called the bobbin winding thread guide and the pre tension disc, and these are used for just winding the bobbin.
Continuing with the top of the machine
Now moving to the other end of the machine this little thing is called the bobbin winder this is where you place the bobbin to wind it. That little flat metal thing next to the bobbin winder is called a bobbin stopper.
This dial is for the stitch length, “the smaller the number the smaller the stitch and the larger the number the larger the stitch.” You can tell the stitch length dial because the dial has a dashed line or the word “length” in front of it.
This next dial is the stitch width dial, It helps you widen the zig-zag stitch. I don’t use the stitch width that much, I mainly use the stitch length. The stitch width dial has either a wavy line or the word “width” in front of it.
This dial is the upper tension dial, so you can adjust the thread tension. This dial is usually on the front of the machine, but my machine has it on the top.
The front of the machine.
Now moving to the front of the machine. This hook on the inside of the machine is called the take up lever, this is used for when you thread your machine.
This lever is the reverse sewing lever, this is for back stitching so you can anchoring your stitches. To me it looks like a backwards u-turn sign.
And this area over here is all the different stitches my sewing machine has. But, to be honest out of all thirty-seven stitches I really only use two, the straight stitch and the zig-zag stitch.
To the right of the stitches, on the side of the machine is the dial you use to select the stitches.
The dial above that is the hand wheel.
Around the needle part of the machine
This is the presser foot level, that you use to raise or lower the presser foot.
And that the presser foot and the presser foot holder.
This is the needle threader.
And right behind the needle threader is the buttonhole lever.
This under the needle is the bobbin case. Sewing machines have either a top loading bobbin or a front loading bobbin, with the front loading bobbin you have to take the bobbin case out of the machine to place your bobbin in the case. While the top loading bobbin is easier, because you just take off the cover and place your bobbin in the case without having to remove it.
These things that look like teeth are the feed dogs, they help feed your fabric through the machine. The medal plate around the feed dogs is called the needle plate.
You can also lower the feed dogs, so you can do free-motion quilting, you lower them with this switch. To get to the feed dog switch, you may have to remove the flat bed attachment (that’s the slide thing in front of the machine).
And last, but not least is the sewing machine pedal, also called the foot controller.
Thanks for reading my post, and I hope that I have helped you figure out your sewing machine a little better.
