Sewing Machine Anatomy: A Guide to the Parts of Your Sewing Machine - Sew My Place
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Sewing Machine Anatomy: A Guide to the Parts of Your Sewing Machine

A sewing machine has a lot of parts. Dozens, in fact. And all of those parts—with their strange names and mysterious functions—can be intimidating to a new sewer.

But sewing machines aren’t nearly as complicated as they might seem to the uninitiated. And the more you know about the parts of your machine, the less daunting it will be.

In this guide, you’ll learn what the parts of your sewing machine are called, and what each part does.

As you read over this list, keep in mind that not every sewing machine will have all of these parts. Also, some of the parts might have more than one name. (For example, the hand wheel is sometimes called a flywheel.)

Still, this is a good, basic overview of common sewing machine parts.

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This is the spool for the bottom thread, and is found in the lower part of your sewing machine. On some sewing machines, the bobbins are front-loading, meaning you insert them through the front of the machine. On other sewing machines, the bobbin is drop-in, so the bobbins are inserted through the top of the machine.

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Bobbin Housing (or Bobbin Case). The bobbin housing holds your bobbins inside your sewing machine.

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Bobbin Winder Tension Disc. This small metal disc helps to keep the thread taut as you wind a bobbin.

Bobbin Winder. As you wind thread onto your bobbin, the bobbin winder will spin the bobbin.

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Buttonhole Foot. Automatically determines how big a buttonhole needs to be based on how big the button you’re using for your project is. If you sometimes worry over whether your buttonholes are the right size for your buttons, you’ll definitely appreciate having a buttonhole foot.

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Feed Dogs. These small, metal ridges are found in the middle of the throat plate (which you’ll learn about later). The feed dogs are what pull your fabric through your sewing machine for you. How fast the feed dogs move the fabric through the machine will depend on how much pressure you are putting on the foot pedal. The harder you press down on the pedal, the faster your fabric will move.

Flywheel (or Hand Wheel). The flywheel allows you to manually lower and raise the sewing machine’s needle. When you’re setting up a project to start sewing it, you’ll lower the flywheel in order to lower the needle into the fabric. When you’re ready to remove the project from the sewing machine, you’ll raise the flywheel to remove the needle from the fabric.

Foot Pedal. Controls the speed at which your sewing machine makes stitches. Press down harder on the pedal to make the machine stitch faster. Ease up on the pedal for slower stitching.

The needle is what puts the thread through the fabric. Sewing machine needles come in many different sizes, and the needle you use will depend on the fabric you are sewing at any given time.

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Needle Clamp (or Needle Bar). This is what holds the needle straight and steady in the sewing machine.

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Needle (or Throat) Plate. The needle plate is the flat, metal plate under the needle that covers the bobbin. When you’re making stitches, the needle goes down through the needle plate. The needle plate has marks that act as seam guides. These allow you to gauge how far your stitches are from the edge of your fabric.

Power Switch. What you use to turn the sewing machine on and off. On many sewing machines, this switch is found near the power cord, and is probably attached to the pedal.

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Presser Foot. Found below the needle, the presser foot presses the fabric down against the feed dogs, which helps to keep the fabric from slipping. You can find both plastic and metal presser feet. Presser feet are also interchangeable. You can switch out your general purpose presser foot for a presser foot specially designed for specific sewing jobs (like making buttonholes and sewing zippers). Don’t be surprised if a single sewing project, especially if it’s a more advanced project, requires more than one type of presser foot.

 

Presser Foot Lever. The part of your sewing machine that raises and lowers the presser foot.

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Pressure Regulator. Controls the amount of pressure use by the presser foot to hold the fabric down against the feed dogs.

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Reverse Switch (or Reverse Button). Use the reverse switch when you need to sew in reverse. Among other things, backstitching can make your seams more stable.

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Slide Plate. If you need access to the bobbin, you open the slide plate.

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Spool Pin (or Spool Holder). A spindle on top of your sewing machine that holds a spool of thread.

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Stitch Length Selector (or Stitch Length Regulator). Allows you to choose how long your stitches will be.

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Stitch Selector. Allows you to choose the specific stitch you want to use for your project. Different projects will require different stitches. You can also use the stitch selector to select one of the decorative stitches built into your sewing machine.

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Stitch Width Selector (or Stitch Width Regulator). Allows you to adjust the width of your stitches.

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Thread Take-Up Lever. One of the many parts of your sewing machine that will help to keep the thread taught while you sew. The thread take-up lever is the part of the machine that creates stitches by raising and lowering the thread. It also controls the flow of the thread.

Tension Discs. Help regulate the tension of your thread.

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Tension Regulator. Allows you to raise and lower the tension of both the top thread and the bobbin thread in your sewing machine. The level of tension will determine how tight your stitches are.

Thread Cutter. Allows you to quickly and easily cut your thread without having to reach for a pair of scissors.

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Thread Guides. The thread guides show your where to put your thread on your sewing machine, and make sure the thread stays in place while you’re sewing. Thread guides also help keep the thread from getting tangled up inside your sewing machine.

sewing to the bank
{ 15 comments… add one }
  • Po February 7, 2016, 6:07 pm

    You should show the parts with the definition

    • sewmyplace March 4, 2016, 7:03 am

      Good suggestion. Working on it.

  • Anna J. White March 9, 2016, 4:36 am

    I am looking to buy a sewing machine for my daughter for her Birthday. She is a Production Design major with a concentration in costumes. Her machine will be used for personal sewing/projects but also to make costume creations made from a variety of fabrics/weights. She is not an accomplished seamstress at this point, but has been trained in the basics and has used machines at school and home. What type of machine would you recommend?

  • Rita June 8, 2018, 4:40 pm

    How do I repair my tension disc whose spring removed.

  • Leia August 22, 2018, 8:16 pm

    please how do I fix the stitch length of my Atlantis sewing machine. the stitch length sews really large and it refuses to adjust. please help it’s urgent

  • Carol Sims December 26, 2018, 11:47 pm

    I would like any and all possible assistance in obtaining a sewing machine shown on the website. I am in need of a sewing machine that is equipped for those with physical disabilities in which I can engage in sewing My contact number is 347)359-8174. Thank you

  • Carol March 14, 2019, 4:03 am

    I have a singer sewing machine 5808c, I heard what was a spring come off from underneath my machine. Now I don’t where it came from or how to fix it. HELP!

  • arrian April 7, 2019, 3:13 pm

    So Dissapointed. I thought I was going to learn the parts and intracies of the photo of the INSIDES of the machine. Not the basics that every new or older seamstress knows!

  • ernesto belangoy June 7, 2019, 6:14 am

    Suddenly while my wife was sewing some curtain the fabric stop moving it seems that the feed dog or the presser foot does not have contact with fabric..there was a small click before it happen, pls enlighten me coz I always do the adjustment and wife just sew… thank you…GOD BLESS

  • Rose October 22, 2019, 2:02 am

    I was looking for the name of the compartment that the bobbin sits in in the sewing machine under the presser foot. It is not moving and I need to have someone repair it I was looking for the name of that

  • Frances Henly April 13, 2020, 3:12 pm

    I have a vintage Morse 4300 ZIG ZAG FOTOMATIC MACHINE AND THE NEEDLE WILL NOT GO DOWN TO THE AREA TO PICK UP BOBBIN THREAD. IT HITS ON THE TOP OF THE METAL HOUSING CONTAINING THE BOBBIN JUST 1/32ND OF AN INCH LEFT OF THE OPEN AREA THAT WOULD ALLOW THE NEEDLE TO GO DOWN AND GRAB THE THE BOBBIN THREAD/ I CAN’T MOVE THE CONTROL FROM ZIG ZAG TO STRAIGHT STITCH/ SEEMS FROZEN. WHAT DO I DO?.

  • Lisa April 24, 2020, 9:45 am

    Thanks! I am a newer sewer, and get confused. I just got a vintage machine from a friend, and need some help with it. This really IS helpful. Not sure why crabby people take the time to fill out nasty comments. I want to thank you, for not only taking the time – but paying for the website – pretty cool.

  • Eric May 7, 2020, 2:29 am

    Hmmm, you have a picture on a sewing machine with the covers off, the title is Sewing Machine Anatomy, but the entire article is about the outside controls. A bit misleading. What about those stepper motors in the pic, the drive belt, the springs? Otherwise, a good article, but please change the title to “Sewing Machine User Controls.”

  • Justin Songwe June 3, 2020, 8:44 pm

    Top thread keeps coming off at the needle, and if it does not come,it will not pick the thread from the bobbin

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