No 5 of the Sewing Machine Jargon Buster

Spool holder

This is the pin at the top of the electric sewing machine where you place the cylindrical plastic reel that carries the thread.

It's useful to have a couple of spool end caps of different diameters – these are the plastic discs that hold the reel in place and help to feed the thread.

Some sewing machines have two spool holders, so you can sew with two different-coloured threads at the same time with a twin needle. That's a bit advanced for me, so that tips is a little redundant for those people who probably know what that's for anyway...:)

Aww! How cute is this?

I don't think this would be a very practical electric sewing machine to rival the Singer 7470 but it's definitely cute!

See the full story here

You can find more 'useful' hints and tips on electric sewing machines at http://electric-sewingmachine.com

No 4 of the Sewing Machine Jargon Buster - The Sewing Bed

This is the bottom arm of the ‘C’ of the electric sewing machine that houses the bobbin. It is often made of two parts: The free arm is a protruding cylinder that can be used to sew smaller or tubular pieces of fabric such as pockets and sleeves.

The extension table fixes around the free arm to create a wide and flat area that is more suitable for supporting and controlling large pieces of fabric.

No 3 of the Sewing Machine Jargon Buster

A Knee Lifter

This feature is found on some electric sewing machines, particularly the Elna and Bernina brands. A knee lifter is a lever that can be pressed with your knee and this allows you to lift the presser foot without taking your hands off your work.

It enables you to move the fabric freely for embroidery, sewing around corners and quilting. It's ideal for large projects and gives you an extra hand for those fiddly projects.

Sewing Machine Jargon Buster - No 2 - The Presser Foot & Feed Dog

Here is the second sewing machine feature that we explain a little more in detail. You can find more information on electric sewing machines at our website.

Presser foot (No 1 in the photo)

The presser foot holds the fabric flat under the needle and in place against the feed dog (the jagged teeth in the picture here) . This helps feed it through evenly as you sew.

There's a range of different presser feet available, designed to do different jobs such as inserting a zip or sewing blind hems.

Presser feet are either held in by a screw or a foot-holder clip, so it's really easy to change them.

Feed dog (No 2 in the photo)

The feed dog is a metal plate with tiny metal teeth that stick up through the plate under the sewing machine's needle. They feed fabric from the front to the back of the machine.

The feed dogs, needle plate and presser foot work together to keep fabric feeding smoothly through your sewing machine

As the needle comes up out of the fabric after making a stitch, the feed dogs rise up and grip the fabric against the presser foot, then slide backwards and pull the fabric with them.

Some sewing machines have a ‘drop feed dog' function. This means that you can fix the feed dog in the down position, letting you move the fabric manually under the needle in the direction you choose. This is useful for embroidery and mending.

No 1 of the Sewing Machine Jargon Buster

I thought I'd just take some of the most regularly used jargon in the sewing arena and

explain them as simply as I can. The first one is:

Bobbin

Sewing machines use 2 separate threads to make a stitch (as most of you will know). There's the needle thread,

which some down from the top of the machine, and the bobbin thread, which comes upwards from the bottom.

of the machine.

A bobbin in a small spool for holding the thread at the bottom of the machine. It sits in a compartment under

the needle. Thread needs to be wound on to the bobbin before you start sewing. Most electric sewing machines

have a bobbing winding function (Check your manual to see how).

Bobbins from older machines load from the site and usually sit in a metal case. This helps to control the tension 

of the thread.

New machines often have a drop-in bobbin and this loads from above. Sometimes they have a transparent cover 

(as in our picture) over the bobbin, which is useful as it enables you to see how much thread is left on the bobbin.

For our second Jargon Buster, we'll look at a Knee Lifter. Yes, this term really does exist!