Sewing quality control in sewing machine

Disclosed is a sewing machine which evaluates sewing quality using a stitch tightness index. During sewing operation, a used length of an upper thread per stitch is detected, and a stitch tightness index per sewn stitch is calculated on the basis of a stitch length per stitch defined by sewing pattern data, a fabric thickness of a sewing workpiece, and detected data of the used length of the upper thread. Then, notification is made which corresponds to the calculated stitch tightness index per sewn stitch (such as a visual display of the stitch tightness index). After that, acceptability/non-acceptability of the thread tightness per sewn stitch can be determined by comparing the calculated stitch tightness index per sewn stitch against a reference value, and a result of the determination can be notified.