The Sewing Machine Master Guide: From Basic to Expert Paperback – September 24, 2013

If you maintain your own machine, you need this book. Clear writing, useful troubleshooting and adjustments with excellent illustrations. This is the "missing manual" that I wish I'd hadtwenty years ago. Essential tips for buying a new or used home or industrial machine. Contains both basic and advanced trouble shooting, tuning, and adjustments. Could it be better, perhaps, but there isn't another single source that is as helpful and comprehensive. It does show photos of wedge shaped mechanics screwdrivers that I don't use. Instead get a set of hollow ground bits where the sides of the blade are parallel to avoid damaging screws.

After buying an older industrial Pfaff, I was curious to see if I could get a ruffle attachment for it. Most online sites either give you a picture and nothing else or show a leaflet that comes with them, no usable description. This book shows the YS Star model I was considering and sure enough, there is both an domestic and industrial model. Had I purchased one on eBay and it was domestic, I would NOT have been happy. They aren't cheap, either.This is why a book like this is helpful. The various types of industrials are explained. Anyone who is doing a bit of upholstery or leather work will get some guidance on walking foot models. Clutch and servo motors are important considerations if your serious about a more industrial machine as well. Fabrics, stitch formation (coverstitch machine anyone?), basic repair tools, adjusting bobbins cases and bobbins sizes explained.I was also glad to see a number of vintage Morse and other Japanese domestic machines. I should mention here that at least some Morse models were made by Toyota. Maybe not the cache of better known names but workhorse nonetheless.It never occurred to me bobbins could be warped or burred, something else I got from the book. It's a good way to kick tires so to speak if you're considered adding to your herd, an upgrade or just starting out. It beats having to return something that wasn't a good fit or performer for your needs. You'll appreciate the fact there isn't any talking down or a ton of techno speak. When you consider most machine showrooms (particularly industrial models) are far and few in between and with a heavier emphasis on vacuum cleaners where domestic machines are sold, a book like this bridge a gap. Good, clear pictures were also a plus.

This is a well written and informative book that has been almost perfect for filling in my knowledge gaps after five months researching and buying several domestic and industrial sewing machines, but my copy of the book has some issues—Specifically, there are large, blank spaces on numerous pages instead of an image or diagram referred to in the text, leaving me to wonder if the images were completely deleted during printing or if they have been shifted to another page or something, or both. If it’s just a formatting error, then it’s an annoyance and I’ll eventually make sense of it after further study and review; if diagrams and photographs have actually gone completely missing, then I didn’t receive the publication promised and will be rather disappointed, because the writing is competent and the information is relevant, only I’m left with an end product that is not as the author intended. At best, it’s a waste of paper printing a book with so much white space between paragraphs. When I get a few extra minutes while I have the book handy, I’ll snap a few photos so potential readers as well as the author and publisher can see (and hopefully correct) what I’m describing. That said, I still recommend this book and only wish I received a copy with less imperfections.

This book is great for the person just starting out in sewing and wanting to decide which machine to get, as it has a huge list of models descriptions with the pros and cons of each. Blodget's not in the pay of any sewing machine manufacturer so he tells it like it is. Its information is extensive enough to also suit the professional tailor or sewing-business-person.It also has an extensive maintenance and repair how-to section.Blodget tells how a sewing machine works (it's quite ingenious), which helps you be an informed user of it (how not to break or jam it). He also has a section on the various kinds of stitches (did you know there are actual international standards for them?)There's a short section on "how to use the sewing machine" -- this is actually very brief and basic.This book is: An in-depth information guide to sewing machines themselvesThis book is not: An in-depth guide on how to sew various kinds of articles.You will want to get another book for actual sewing and tailoring techniques.

The author of this amazing book (published in 2013) has written an easy to understand Master Guide. For decades I had to take my machines to the sewing repair shop and spend lots of money for resetting the timing, mostly. This book has many pictures and adequate information about various types of machines and how to take care of them and fix them when I haven't. I have domestic and commercial machines and there is information for all of the different types. I haven't had time to read the entire book, but just thumbing through it I know it was money well spent. There are many resources and websites in the back pages.