You and Your Sewing Machine: A Sewist's Guide to Troubleshooting, Maintenance, Tips & Techniques (A Field Guide) Paperback – August 7, 2018

I've been sewing for fun and professionally for over 60 years. This book taught me things I wish I had known when I started, and never learned since, like why my foot pedal stops working sometimes (and how to fix it), how to protect presser feet from the feed dogs, and how to get the best knot at the beginning of a row of stitching on my electronic machine. It also thoroughly covers how to choose your needle and thread, and set your thread tension, bobbin tension, and presser foot pressure for the best results.

I was having a problem with loops forming on the underside of my sewing, and after a thorough cleaning/oiling of my sewing machine, fiddling with tension, changing needle, thread, and anything else I could think of, I was about ready to send it to the repair shop, which would have cost at least $100. But I had this book on my wishlist, so I ordered it and decided to wait and see if it had anything that could help me before I paid someone to look at my machine. Sure enough, the book mentioned that looping of thread could be caused by a burr in the throat plate or bobbin hook, and $5 for sandpaper and a few minutes labor fixed the issue.Things are explained clearly (especially tension) and there are lots of pictures. There are many many different sewing machines out there, and the author tries to explain how the different main types work, even vintage machines. Given that no one book can show every machine, I think this book does a good job of hitting the basics.

Excellent illustrations and advice for the beginner who maintains their machine. If you don't want to take your machine into the sewing store every time something goes haywire, you will also need a copy of "The Sewing Machine Master Guide: From Basic to Expert," It contains more breadth and depth and is essential to solving problems that are otherwise difficult to diagnose. My old industrial oil bath machine is too heavy to load into the van and drag into the shop just because I don't know how to adjust something. Both books will save you time, aggravation, and money.

Helps to understand working of sewing machines.

The pictures, and explanations are very clear. It is so interesting, I haven’t been able to put the book down since I got it. I wish I had had this book a couple of years ago, it might have saved a machine I ruined. My current machine will be much happier. I now under stand the workings of the machine much better. I found the relationship between the needle, thread and fabric very helpful. The explanation on upper and lower tension very helpful as well. I can vouch for the information on bobbins. I recently was sewing with no problems and suddenly the machine stitches were loose as though tension was a problem. After trying several things I discovered when I changed the color of thread and bobbin, the new bobbin looked the same as the previous, but wasn’t. It was a generic that looked the same, but the machine knew the difference. Once I changed the bobbin to one with the right logo on it, the machine sewed beautifully again. I will be getting this book for one of my sewing friends as a Christmas gift as I think it is that great.

This book has already helped me troubleshoot a couple of issues with my sewing machines. Highly recommend this reference tool before hauling your machine off to a repair shop.

My mother taught me how to sew when I was 9 years old and I learned on a very basic machine. When I was 16 I was gifted my first sewing machine and I have had several since. I was never formally taught how to troubleshoot or maintain my machine and I have recently taken up sewing again after a few years. My husband noticed that I would just kinda look at a very old instruction manual and figure it out. Well after just getting by all these years I decided to buy a book. I am not disappointed. This book had ALOT of pictures and not just one type but several different pictures of the same things. This is now my go too when I hear something or see a stitch get tangled. I also like how easy it is to just have it nearby instead of searching through endless videos or trying to find your exact problem.I do suggest just sitting down and reading the book as I was able to read so tips and tricks right off the bat that I had no idea!! Must buy for a beginner.

I’ve been sewing for several years but was never fully educated on a lot of things regarding sewing machines. I did things mostly through trial and error. This book is a great resource and provides information on a variety of topics. It’s one of those books you can refer to if you need a refresher.