Not sure what all those buttons, levers and little metal pieces on your sewing machine actually do? Click around the machine below to find out.
You'll learn the most important sewing machine parts, what they do, and a few beginner tips that can save you some frustration later. Your machine may look different, and that's completely normal.
This handmade sewing organizer keeps scissors, pins, bobbins and other small sewing tools together beside your machine.
The Sewing Machine Parts You'll Use Most
There are quite a few parts on a sewing machine, but here's the good news: you do not need to memorize all of them before you start sewing.
In the beginning, you'll spend most of your time working with the needle, presser foot, feed dogs, bobbin, handwheel, stitch controls and reverse button. Once you understand what those basic parts do, the machine starts feeling a lot less mysterious.
| Sewing Machine Part | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Needle | Carries the upper thread through the fabric to help form each stitch. |
| Presser Foot | Holds the fabric in place while you sew. |
| Feed Dogs | Move the fabric through the machine as you sew. |
| Bobbin | Holds the lower thread used to form stitches. |
| Handwheel | Lets you manually raise and lower the needle. |
| Needle Plate | Supports the fabric beneath the presser foot and usually includes seam guides. |
| Reverse Button | Lets the machine sew backward, often used to secure the beginning and end of a seam. |
| Upper Thread Tension | Controls the tension on the upper thread so it works properly with the bobbin thread. |
| Stitch Controls | Let you choose and adjust the stitches available on your machine. |
Which Sewing Machine Parts Should a Beginner Learn First?
If you're new to sewing, start with the needle, presser foot, bobbin, feed dogs and reverse button. Learn how to raise and lower the presser foot, insert or access the bobbin, select a straight stitch and sew forward and backward.
That's enough to start.
You don't need to understand every decorative stitch, button or setting before you make your first project. A lot of sewing makes much more sense once you're sitting at the machine with fabric underneath the presser foot.
Don't Forget That Little Reverse Button
This one I learned in public.
I once sewed simple felt vests for my entire Cub Scout den so the boys would have somewhere to display their patches. They couldn't have been much easier to make. Cut the felt, sew one little seam at each shoulder, done.
Except I didn't backstitch those shoulder seams.
We handed the vests out at our Blue and Gold celebration and, to my horror, they almost immediately started coming apart.
Oops.
A few reverse stitches at the beginning and end of a construction seam can help lock those stitches in place. Eventually backstitching becomes automatic. Until then, remind yourself. Preferably before you've made matching vests for an entire Cub Scout den.
Why Does My Sewing Machine Look Different?
If you just explored the interactive sewing machine guide and then looked at your own machine and thought, Mine doesn't look like that, don't worry.
Sewing machines vary quite a bit by brand, model and age. A mechanical machine may use knobs and dials where a computerized machine has buttons and a screen. The bobbin may load from the top or the front. Your reverse control might be a button, lever or something else entirely.
The location and appearance of the sewing machine parts can change, but their basic jobs are remarkably similar.
This is also why your sewing machine manual is worth keeping. The guide above can help you understand what a part does. Your manual can show you exactly where that part is located and how it works on your particular machine.
Now Find These Parts on Your Own Sewing Machine
Here's a simple way to make what you just learned stick: sit down in front of your own machine and see how many of these parts you can find.
- Needle
- Presser foot
- Presser-foot lever
- Bobbin and bobbin cover
- Feed dogs
- Needle plate and seam guides
- Handwheel
- Reverse control
- Stitch selector or stitch controls
- Upper thread tension control
Then grab a scrap of ordinary woven cotton and sew a few lines. Try stopping and starting. Raise and lower the presser foot. Use the reverse button. Look at the seam guides while you sew and see what happens when you move the fabric closer to or farther away from them.
You don't even need to make anything yet. You're simply getting acquainted with the machine.
Want More Ideas for What to Make Next?
Once the machine starts feeling less mysterious, the fun part is deciding what to make with it.
Studio Insiders is where I share sewing projects, creative ideas, things happening in my studio, and inspiration for spending more time making things you actually want to keep, use and give.
New to Sewing? Start Here
If you're still getting comfortable with the basics, I've also put together a complete beginner's sewing guide. It covers the tools you actually need, beginner-friendly fabrics, basic sewing machine skills, common sewing terms, easy first projects and some of the mistakes I've learned the hard way.
Read the Beginner Sewing Guide
Frequently Asked Questions About Sewing Machine Parts
What are the main parts of a sewing machine?
The main sewing machine parts include the needle, presser foot, feed dogs, bobbin, needle plate, handwheel, spool pin, bobbin winder, thread take-up lever, tension control, reverse control and stitch controls. Many modern machines also have features such as speed control, needle up/down and an automatic needle threader.
You don't need to memorize all of these before learning to sew. Start with the parts you use to thread the machine, control the fabric and sew a basic straight seam.
Do all sewing machines have the same parts?
Most sewing machines perform the same basic jobs, but the parts may look different or be located in different places. Mechanical and computerized machines can look especially different from one another. Your sewing machine manual is the best reference for identifying the exact controls on your model.
What part of a sewing machine moves the fabric?
The feed dogs help move the fabric through the sewing machine. They're the little textured metal teeth underneath the presser foot. As the machine stitches, the feed dogs move in a pattern that helps advance the fabric.
That's one reason you generally don't need to pull the fabric through the machine. Your job is usually to guide it while the machine does the feeding.
What does the bobbin do on a sewing machine?
The bobbin holds the lower thread. As you sew, the machine brings the upper thread and bobbin thread together to form stitches in the fabric.
Depending on your machine, the bobbin may load from the top or from the front.
What does the presser foot do?
The presser foot holds the fabric against the feed dogs while you sew. You raise it when positioning or removing fabric and lower it before sewing.
There are also many specialty presser feet for things like zippers, buttonholes, quilting and other techniques, but you don't need a drawer full of them when you're learning basic sewing.
What does the reverse button do on a sewing machine?
The reverse control makes the machine sew backward. For many construction seams, sewing backward for a few stitches at the beginning and end of the seam helps secure the stitching so it doesn't immediately start coming undone.
Ask my Cub Scout den how I know.
What is the handwheel on a sewing machine for?
The handwheel lets you manually move the needle up and down. This is useful when you need precise control over the needle position, such as when starting or stopping at a particular point.
Check your machine manual for instructions specific to your model.
What do the lines on the sewing machine needle plate mean?
The lines beside the needle are usually seam guides. They help you keep a consistent seam allowance by giving you a line to follow with the edge of your fabric.
Learning to watch a seam guide instead of staring directly at the needle can make sewing straighter seams much easier.
Do I need to know every part of my sewing machine before I start sewing?
No. Learn enough to safely thread your machine, wind and insert the bobbin, raise and lower the presser foot, select a basic straight stitch and sew a seam. You can learn the rest as you need it.
That's how most of us actually learn to sew anyway. Something comes up, you figure out what that mysterious button or foot does, and eventually the machine stops feeling mysterious at all.
Go Try Your Machine
You don't need to memorize a sewing machine diagram before you're allowed to start sewing. Click around the interactive guide, find the same parts on your own machine, grab a scrap of fabric and try them.
The names start sticking once you've actually used the parts a few times. Pretty soon, "presser-foot lever" and "bobbin winder" won't sound like mysterious sewing vocabulary. They'll just be the things you reach for without thinking.
And that's really the point. The sooner the machine itself stops being the intimidating part, the sooner you can get on with making something.