The Sewing Machine Master Guide: From Basic to Expert Paperback – 24 Sept. 2013

Even though this is a vanity published book my goodness it contains a lot of information and frankly I can't see why a publisher wouldn't want it. It's enabled me to move from being a sewing machine owner who can do a basic clean up and service to someone who can identify and fix quite a lot of other problems too.The most useful advice it contains is on doing easy and deep servicing on your machine and with this info you may find you never again need to pay to have a machine serviced. I've certainly fixed my own and other people's basic problems, such as tension instability with the help of this book.It doesn't completely negate the need for a sewing machine engineer but it will certainly save you money every time the tension on your machine becomes unstable and cannot be fixed using the tension dial. Frankly, tension problemshardly ever have anything to do with upper or lower thread tension (unless you've just bought a new bobbin case) and moving the tension dial hardly ever fixed anything either.On the other hand keeping your machine lint free, changing needles regularly and making sure to use the same manufacturers threads (of the same weight) in both bobbin and upper thread will solve a lot of very common problems.Anything that cannot be solved by the above good practice is probably covered in this extremely useful book.

I found it interesting to read from a history of the sewing machine through to basic maintenance and advice on sewing basics such as suitability of needles and fabrics. It’s written from an anecdotal perspective but still provides a handy reference guide to refer back to. You won’t learn how to adjust the timing on a computerised model but there’s enough info. to complete a decent home maintenance/service job so you’ll only need to take your machine into a service centre, if it’s a much more complicated problem.Well worth the price.

This is an interesting book. I haven't done any sewing for a long time and feel a bit out of touch with the advances in technology regarding sewing machines. Although the author writes about machines past and present, it describes quite plainly what the differences are between machines, what and how machines work, ideas on what kind of machine would best meet your needs, types of stiches, how to get the tension right and lots of other information. There is also a section on basic maintenance and what to look for when buying a machine. Although I have a 40yr old sewing machine I enjoyed reading the book and it made me realise that I have the perfect machine for what I need as no machine can replace skill.

WOW, this book has so much information that I wish I had read it years ago. I've been sewing for about 30 years and have been making just about every mistake in the book when it comes to using my machine. This book has everything from the most basic instructions on how to operate a sewing machine to troubleshooting and repair (if you want to do it yourself). An absolute must for anyone who wants to learn how to properly use and care for their sewing machine.

I realised that although I learnt to use a sewing machine at school, I had huge gaps. This book goes back to basics in a very constructive way. For example, it encourages you to hand stitch in the same way a machine stitches to understand how the threads from bobbin and needle interact and uses this practical exercise to emphasise aspects of both upper and lower tension. before I purchased I wondered whether it would be a disadvantage that it was aimed at people whatever sewing machine they had. In reality I think this helped rather than hindered especially as general pointers about various manufacturers was included. useful for beginners whatever their age and also a useful reference book.

Not really what I expected and a lot of information about sewing machines and how to sort them out should a fault occur, may save some money in the future by servicing yourself to a point. Covers a lot of old machines as well but does not cover my make much just mentions the brand but i suppose there are too many to cover so general things are for all.Still going through it so may like more in future.

just a quick thank you .This book is well informed and very helpful in its subject .a must have for people with vintage machine.

lots of info great book