A sewing machine external unit includes: a holder holding fabric; a driver being detachable from a bed of a sewing machine and driving the holder along an upper surface of the bed; a pressing member moving in an up-down direction according to movement of a sewing needle in the up-down direction, pressing the fabric while the sewing needle is stuck in the fabric, and rising together with the sewing needle in response to the sewing needle coming out of the fabric and rising; a position detector detecting a position of the pressing member in the up-down direction; a signal output part outputting a signal to the sewing machine; and a controller outputting a needle drive signal for driving the sewing needle from the signal output part to the sewing machine, and controlling driving of the holder and/or the sewing needle based on a detection result of the position detector.