A direct drive sewing machine driven by a sealed low-inertia motor having a combination of elements adapted to provide for temperature control of the motor and certain operator accessible and auxiliary elements of the sewing machine. The motor is enclosed in end bonnets which are provided with cooling air entrance and exit openings. A blower external to the motor and operable independently thereof produces a continuous stream of cooling air regardless of the intermittent operation of the motor, which stream of air is directed through the entrance openings of the end bonnets and in close proximity to the motor shaft-bearing end plates of the motor within said end bonnets. The cooling air is then exhausted through the exit openings.