ISMACS' Sewing Machine Book List
BOOKS ON SEWING MACHINE REPAIR & MAINTENANCE
For repairs, there is no substitute for a specific machine’s Service Manual (and parts list). These are the instructions for engineers who might have to dismantle the entire machine. Well-written service manuals (Singer’s are a good example) usually don’t require any previous knowledge of the machine and explain it in such a way that anyone could learn it as they go along.
Failing a Service Manual, the next stage down is an Adjuster’s (and User’s) Manual, which contains enough information to help keep a machine ‘timed’, at least, and set the correct needle the right way round etc. Many such manuals are available for free download from manufacturers. Failing an Adjuster’s Manual, an exploded Parts Diagram will at least show what should be where.
There is no one book that will teach the repair of every machine. One model directory that lists all the industrial machines available in the sixties in a vast Excel-type spreadsheet, gives only one line per machine – and still runs to 500 pages! Singer produced hundreds of domestic models and over a thousand (slightly) different industrials.
Mending sewing machines IS within the capabilities of most people. So is putting them in the car and taking them to the menders. Most of the repair books will help decide when to take which route.
Basic Sewing Machine Repair
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Author: |
K. Kiri & S. Kalmakoff |
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Publisher: |
South Pacific Appropriate Technology Foundation (SPATF), P.O. Box 6937, Boroko, Papua New Guinea. |
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Format: |
Paperback. B&W. & microfiche. |
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Date: |
March, 1979 (1st Edition) |
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Pages: |
63 |
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Very clear, concise and comprehensive maintenance and repair instructions aimed at sewers in Papua New Guinea, where parts shops are rarer that hens’ dentists (“How to make a tension release pin from a nail” etc.). Information delightfully divided between “some machines” (Singer 15) and “other machines” (66/201), but plenty of “if your parts look like this, do this…”. Illustrations drawn from Singer and Janome manuals. Remarkably thorough. |
Care and Adjustment of the Sewing Machine
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Author: |
F.B. Wright and Harold Clough (originally, Professor Byron B. Robb) |
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Publisher: |
New York State College of Agriculture (Cornell University). Cornell Extension Bulletin 815 |
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Format: |
Paperback |
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Date: |
Revised 1956 |
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Pages: |
63 |
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Cover shows a woman confidently adjusting her Featherweight. Simple maintenance for American machines from 1890-1930s. Seems to be an expanded update of ‘Sewing Machines – Cleaning and Adjusting’ (see below), including a useful interchangeable needle list and how to sharpen needles. |
The Complete Guide to Treadle Sewing Machines
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Author: |
Reuben O. Doyle |
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Publisher: |
Privately published |
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Format: |
11” x 8”, B&W illustrations, sold by online download |
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Pages: |
85 |
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Care, maintenance and use of treadle machines, with generic information pertinent to a wide range of models (including hand-wound). Sound, clear advice on basic tension setting, oiling, timing the shuttle etc. – and a good chapter on the ruffler. See also: “Sewing Machine Repair For The Home Sewer!” & "Serger Repair for the Home Sewer" by the same author. |
The Complete Handbook of Sewing Machine Repair
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Author: |
Howard Hutchison |
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Publisher: |
Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, P.A. |
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Format: |
Paperback |
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Date: |
1980 |
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Pages: |
308 |
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Essentially for modern machines. It dismisses treadles in an introductory paragraph and everything else pre-1960 in the following two pages. Then it’s onto a limited range of zigzag models (New Home, Brother, White & Pfaff). If these machines are what you’re after, then the service and repair information is excellent, with plenty of clear illustrations. |
The Complete Sewing Machine Handbook
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Author: |
Karen E. Kunkel |
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Publisher: |
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. (Cassell plc in UK) |
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Format: |
Paperback, hardback. Colour |
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Date: |
1997 (hardback) |
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Pages: |
160pp |
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ISBN: |
0-8069-0848-3 |
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For owners – and prospective owners - of modern machines and a good ‘next step up’ from the instruction manual. Good advice throughout for sewers, explaining the capabilities and operation of the latest models - decorative zigzag stitching, darning, embroidery, etc. and a fresh approach to explaining those attachments. |
Compound Feed Walking Foot Machines, Maintenance-Repair-Troubleshooting
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Author: |
Werner Schwartz (Technical Director |
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Publisher: |
Consew (Consolidated Sewing Machine Corp., N.Y. & Miami) |
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Format: |
11” x 8”, B&W illustrations, online download (no charge) |
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Date: |
1985 |
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Pages: |
36 |
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Specific to Consew industrial machines but will help identify walking foot and sewing problems generally. Impressive trouble-shooting section and a chapter on servicing clutch motors, common to many industrials. Included as typical of some of the excellent publications, helpfully posted online by diligent manufacturers. Google and ye shall find. |
Dyke’s Sewing Machine Service Manual
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Author: |
Ottis Dykes |
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Publisher: |
187, Fitzgerald Rd, Rochelle, Ga. 31079 |
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Format: |
9” x 6 (approx.), paperback. |
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Date: |
1978 |
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Pages: |
137, plus index |
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Text is identical to, and a reprint of, Robinson’s S.M. Service Manual (see below). |
How to Refurbish Sewing Machines, A step-by-step guide for Singer models 66, 99, 15K & 201
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Publisher: |
Tools For Self-Reliance, Netley Marsh, Southampton, Hampshire, SO40 7GY. http://www.tfsr.org/publications/ |
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Format: |
A4, online download. B/W photos. |
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Date: |
2006 |
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Pages: |
78 |
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A stunningly good repair manual. Tools for Self-Reliance is a charity that sends, amongst other things, sustainable sewing machines (common Singers) to the third world. They need donated machines to work and have produced these instructions, downloadable free online, to help generous members of the public service their donations. Extremely thorough and profusely illustrated with CLEAR photos of virtually every moving part, plus tensions, timings, case refurbishment, etc. Excellent! |
How to Repair Your Own Sewing Machine
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Author: |
Bert Robertshaw |
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Publisher: |
194, Lytham Rd, S.S. Blackpool, England. http://www.singer-featherweight.com/ |
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Format: |
8½” x 6”, paperback, B&W illustrations |
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Copyright Date: |
2003, Sew-Sales (Reprint). Original c. 1911. |
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Pages: |
36 |
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Clearly written by an Old Sewing Machine Guy as his cloth-capped picture reassuringly confirms on the cover. A short but informative book - originally written in the early twentieth century - that quickly explains the workings of domestic machines by shuttle type (transverse, vibrating, oscillating and rotary) - even a passage on the Class 29 bootpatcher - with sufficient information to get most machines back in time/tension etc. The modern reprint has clear line drawings and a troubleshooting section: ‘50 difficulties and their remedies’; plus a few pages from old Bert’s original catalogue for nostalgia value. Basic, but a good place to start. In print (2010). |
How to Service and Repair Your Sewing Machine
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Author: |
Mathew Levy |
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Publisher: |
Kogos International Corp. 1140 Broadway, New York I, N.Y., U.S.A. |
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Format: |
9” x 6”, paperback |
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Date: |
1962 |
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Pages: |
86 |
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Library of Congress Card No. 62-9020 |
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Written for use in the garment trade. An extensive troubleshooting guide with sufficient instructions to help operators maintain their machines. Generic information but clearly presented and illustrated. |
Interchangeable Needle List (Sewing Machines for which Singer Needles Can Be Used)
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Publisher: |
Singer Manufacturing Co. |
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Format: |
8” x 3½”, paperback, B&W illustrations of Singer needles |
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Date: |
1909 |
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Pages: |
80 |
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A useful list; 80 pages, comprising hundreds of (largely) American, domestic machines and their corresponding Singer needles. Canadian and a few British manufacturers are also included. Photographs of the needles to help I.D. The entries for Wanzer machines should be viewed with suspicion. |
Mr Needlebar’s Needle Book
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Author: |
Chrys Gunther |
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Publisher: |
Published privately, The Needlebar, www.needlebar.org/ |
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Date: |
|
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A guide to dating sewing machines. Written by an expert collector. |
Mr Needlebar’s Needle Book
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Author: |
Chrys Gunther |
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Publisher: |
Published privately, The Needlebar, www.needlebar.org/ |
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Format: |
8”x5”, paperback |
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Date: |
2004 |
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Pages: |
200 |
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A comprehensive and reliable cross-referenced list of needles and substitutes. A phenomenal labour of love from a highly-respected collector. Currently (2009) out of print but the author reassures us, however, that a new version is being compiled and will be published when it’s ready. |
Overhauling Treadles
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Author: |
‘Captain’ Dick Wightman |
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Publisher: |
Treadle-on Publications, www.treadleon.net/ |
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Format: |
DVD, 90 minutes. |
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Date: |
1999 & 2005 |
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Video transcription of the author ’s demonstration/lecture on restoring and servicing treadles and their cabinetwork. |
Repairing Sewing Machines – a complete guide (and setting up a repair business)
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Author: |
Not declared |
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Publisher: |
Not declared |
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Format: |
11½” x 8”. Paperback. B&W line drawings |
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Pages: |
218 |
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Included because it’s readily available on a certain auction site. A hotchpotch of good but randomly presented maintenance instruction, interspersed with advice on setting up a repair business (which includes the suggestion that, having set up said repair business “any repair that involves replacing parts should be entrusted to a repair agent”). Pretty much all the necessary adjustments seem to be there but it’s up to the reader to translate the generic information to the specifics of their machine. Includes a chapter on blind-stitch machines but a good third of the book is simplistic advice on starting a home business (sample dot-matrix flyers?) and equipping a sewing room. |
Robinson’s Sewing Machine Service Manual
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Author: |
Lee Robinson |
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Publisher: |
Value House, 349A Whitehorse Rd. Croydon, England. (some editions: Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.A.) |
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Format: |
9” x 6½” (approx.), Paperback, reinforced with card by public library. |
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Date: |
1958 (6th printing 1972) |
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Pages: |
137 (140pp in some editions), plus index. |
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Dewey: |
681-7677 |
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A thorough, concise and copiously illustrated (B&W line drawings) analysis of the principal domestic machine types; from the vibrating shuttle (Singer VS2, 27 etc.) onwards. Zigzag, too. Comprehensive instructions for the diagnosis, dismantling and repair of pre-1958 machines. Older models with a transverse shuttle, or producing a chain stitch, are not covered. Chapters also on S.M. motors/controllers; relevant tools; equipping and adapting a repair workbench - with a built-in treadle! |
Sewing Machinery. A Practical Manual of the Sewing Machine
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Author: |
J.W. Urquhart, C.E. |
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Publisher: |
Crosby Lockwood & Co., London |
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Format: |
6½” x 4½”, B&W illustrations. |
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Copyright Date: |
1881 |
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Number of Pages: |
172 |
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“The aim of the Author in preparing this little treatise was to confine himself within the limits of such a production as might be read with advantage by that numerous portion of the community engaged in selling and adjusting sewing machines, as well as by the general public interested in stitching mechanism.” And this practical Victorian volume does exactly what’s engraved so modestly on the tin. Repair and maintenance details for Howe, Singer, Wilcox & Gibbs, Wheeler & Wilson (models 1-8!), Grover & Baker, Little Wanzer & Weir machines prior to 1881. An excellent and elegant read. Probably no longer affordable except, perhaps, by Isaac Singer’s heirs. |
Sewing Machines
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Author: |
Rosamond C. Cooke |
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Publisher: |
Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois |
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Format: |
8” x 5½”, hardback, B&W line drawings |
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Date: |
1922 |
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Pages: |
140 |
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“Every girl is the potential customer of some sewing machine company, and a knowledge of every standard make of machine should be a part of her general information.” A high school textbook, designed to teach the underlying principles and construction of the sewing machine and help teachers to “operate any machine quickly and easily”. Well-illustrated, comprehensive explanations of many American machines of the period and basic sewing instruction. Chapter on chain-stitch machines and their attachments. Makes covered: Davis, Domestic, Eldridge, National, New Home, Standard, Singer, White, Willcox & Gibbs, Rotary and Greist attachments. |
Sewing Machine Attachment Handbook
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Author: |
Charlene Phillips |
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Publisher: |
Krause Publications |
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Format: |
8"x 8" |
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Date: |
May, 2009 |
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Pages: |
144 |
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ISBN: |
ISBN-10: 0896899233 |
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Everything you need to know about attachments; what they are, what machines they fit and comprehensive instructions for using them. Good photography; clearly presented and elegantly designed. |
Sewing Machines – Cleaning and Adjusting
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Author: |
Helen S. Holbrook & Albert V. Krewatch |
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Publisher: |
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers’ Bulletin No.1944 |
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Format: |
9” x 6”, paperback |
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Date: |
August 1943 |
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Pages: |
24 |
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Simple machine maintenance, quickly and straightforwardly explained. Produced during WWII to encourage the Home Front to make do and mend. A slight publication but a good place to start. Useful illustrated interchangeable needle list for American machines. |
The Sewing Machine Handbook
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Author: |
Peter Lucking |
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Publisher: |
Arco Publishing, Inc., N,Y, |
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Format: |
9” x 5½”, hardback & paperback |
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Date: |
1985 |
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Pages: |
112 |
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ISBN: |
0-668-06556-7 (0-668-06562-1 paperback) |
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A very general, beginner’s guide to sewing machines; buying, using and looking after. The instructions – especially for the attachments - are useful but not a lot more than what’s included in the manual that accompanied the machine. |
