Manuels de machines à coudre

Next to the sewing machine itself, the sewing machine manual is possibly the most important item in the carton.

The manual not only identifies each of the sewing machine parts and accessories, it also contains valuable information about settings, maintenance and care and contains lots of helpful tips to make your sewing experience as enjoyable as possible.

When you buy a brand new sewing machine, you can rest assured that the manual will be included in the box along with all of the essential parts and attachments necessary for the sewing machine to operate properly along with a full compliment of accessories.

But, what happens when you buy a used machine, if you inherit your grandmother’s antique machine à coudre or if one is given to you? There are no guarantees that the manual will be there when you need to figure out how to set the machine up, how to use the accessories or – most important of all – how to take care of it.

The good news is nearly every sewing machine manufacturer under the sun recognizes that sewing machines have traditionally be handed down from generation to generation or sold in second hand shops and thrift stores.

With this in mind, many manufacturers’ websites have links that will take you to manuals for sewing, embroidery and machines à piquer that are no longer in production. Even then, however, you may run into a situation where the manual for your particular machine or model may not be available.

That’s when websites like manualsonlinen come to the rescue. People who sign up as members to this website can usually find manuals for all kinds of home appliances, especially sewing machines.

One of the main features of this site is that all of the manuals are free. If the manual you are looking for is not available on this site, you can request it and other members have the option of either telling you where to locate it or uploading it to the main library so that other members can download it when it becomes available.

If all else fails, you also have the option of purchasing the manual from one of the many web sites that offer out of print sewing machine manuals for sale. These sites include sewingmachinemanuals, sewconsultant or mastersew. Depending upon the manual you are searching for and its availability, prices for sewing machine manuals being sold through these sites range from $5 to $20.

I advise caution, however. To date, I have not used any of these sites that offer sewing manuals for sale and therefore, cannot attest to their reliability. When searching for sewing machines for my own use, I go first to the manufacturers’ websites.

If the manuals are not available there, I then go to manualsonline. I have found that acquiring sewing machine manuals through manufacturers’ websites is for the most part an uncomplicated process.

My research reveals that the Bernina and Singer websites are the most user friendly when it comes to providing out of print manuals for sewing machines and sergers made within the last 20 years or so that are no longer in production.

Manuals for antiques like the Singer Featherweight 221, Singer treadle machines, and sewing machines that were operated by hand cranks are sometimes more difficult to find, but not impossible.

For example, I found a manual for a Singer Featherweight 221 by performing a simple Google search. The link to a free PDF copy of an original manual was near the top of the list. A simple mouse click and the manual was ours.

I saved the file and forwarded it to a friend who inherited a Featherweight from her grandmother when she was in high school, but never had the manual. For those who are in search of sewing machine manuals for antiques, I recommend tias.

In my opinion, this site is most reliable for locating those hard to find antique sewing machine manuals. The manuals available through this site come with a price, however… usually around $10-$25.

Unfortunately, finding manuals for some other older sewing machines may not be possible, especially for those brands that are no longer in existence. When searching for the manual for a Japanese made Bois de flotte sewing machine circa 1969, my on line search yielded nothing whatsoever.

It appears as though manuals for sewing machines produced by the smaller, lesser known manufacturers, even though the machines themselves are still in excellent operating condition, are simply not available.

When confronted with a situation where the manual for a particular sewing machine model is not available and cannot be located after numerous internet searches, I recommend that these machines only be used by people who are very familiar with their operation and maintenance requirements.

Without this prior knowledge about the sewing machine, there is a good chance that an uninformed user could inadvertently create a state of affairs where the machine fails to function properly. The worst case scenario is that damage to the motor or other moving parts occurs because the sewing machine is not properly cared for.

Failure to clean and lubricate the sewing machine as recommended by the owner’s manual could result in the machine seizing up and ultimately being taken in for what could possibly be a very expensive service call, or the machine being packed away in the back of a closet for no reason other than the user’s lack of knowledge about its operation and care.

To sum it all up, the owner’s manual is quite possibly the most important component of any sewing machine or serger. Without it, users have only a glimpse of an idea about how to properly use, care for and maintain the machine.

I strongly recommend that even people who have been sewing for several decades stop and take the time to read the manual of any sewing machine they bring home before touching it.

Reading the manual from cover to cover is the only way to be assured of getting the most out of your sewing machine for many, many years.