Singer 700-720 Sewing Machine Instruction User Manual

The Singer 700 series carried genuine bragging rights when it launched in 1969: as Pocono Sew & Vac's own product page notes, this was the top-of-the-line Touch & Sew, made entirely in the USA — "it's even printed on the side of the hand wheel." Produced from 1969 to 1975, the family expanded into a wide range of related numbers (737, 750, 755, 756, 758, 770, 775, 778 among them), with the 750 and 770 specifically marketed as the "Golden" Touch & Sew, and the 720, 755, and 758 built as free-arm machines for cuffs, sleeves, and trouser legs.

One genuinely clever feature owners still praise decades later: the bobbin winds directly from the needle thread without unthreading the machine first — a real convenience that saved time mid-project, as one longtime PatternReview forum user specifically called out. That same forum thread flags the machine's most common long-term weak point: an internal white plastic cam-stack gear, part number 381577, that splits into pieces after decades of use, a repair several owners have struggled to source parts for since the machine's discontinuation. Collectors and repair shops alike have long since given the model a nickname that captures its reputation with brutal honesty: Threads Magazine's own forum records at least one longtime collector calling it "Touch & Scream," because "the timing of the upper and lower threads is tenuous at best and can require frequent repairs" — worth knowing before buying one purely on nostalgia.

The official instruction manual covers the full range of setup and operating procedures owners actually need: threading the machine, bobbin winding, thread tension adjustment, chainstitching, the take-up lever, the buttonhole dial, the needle position selector, the cloth plate push button, friction-free spool holders, the built-in needle threader, the thread cutter, the stitch width selector, the blindstitch hem guide, changing the needle, the reverse stitch lever, and routine oiling — genuinely comprehensive coverage for a machine built to handle heavier, more varied sewing tasks than a basic straight-stitch model of the same era.

This instruction manual covers the setup, threading, stitch selection, and routine maintenance procedures needed to get the most out of a Singer 700/720 Touch & Sew.