Abstract: A sewing machine with a thread cutting device, a pneumatic/automatic presser foot lifter and an air hose attached to the exhaust of the presser foot lift cylinder or its solenoid valve, the air hose directing the air flow to an air jet tube attached to the presser foot shaft behind the needle by a special holder with a single screw simultaneously holding the presser foot to the presser bar lifter. The presser foot lift cylinder and a solenoid valve connected thereto are mounted as a compact unit on a plate, with a piston of the lifting cylinder operatively disposed adjacent to a lifting angle bracket, the latter being connected to the lifting linkage inside the sewing machine. When the solenoid and lifting cylinder are released to lower the presser foot, the exhaust air from the cylinder is forced through the air jet tube up to its open end held by the holder for blowing the thread end above the presser foot.