FINE NEEDLEWORK BY MACHINE

These machines are of Swiss and German design, but American inventors have recently developed a machine for producing fine needlework which imitates very closely the work of the hand. In this machine the needle passes completely through the fabric as in ordinary hand sewing, but it does not have to be turned around for the return stitch because it is pointed at each end and has the eye in the middle. The needles are held by spring clips in a swinging frame. When the frame swings toward the cloth the needles are pushed through the fabric and their points are caught by spring clips in a frame on the opposite side. The latter frame draws the needles completely through and a set of hooks catch the thread and pull the stitch taut. The advantage of this type of machine is that it produces the same design on each side of the cloth; in other words, there is no “wrong” side to the embroidery. The design is controlled by a “stitcher” operating a pantagraphic system of levers and by skillful manipulation he can completely overcome the flat machinelike appearance of the automatic schiffli machine.

Laces are very ingeniously produced on schiffli machines by using the “burnt-out” system invented forty years ago by a German, named Beckel. This consists in the use of thread of a different material from that of the fabric, and after the embroidery is completed the fabric is removed either chemically or by the application of heat, leaving only the stitching, which forms a delicate lace. For instance, cotton thread may be embroidered on a groundwork of wool, or silk thread is used on a fabric of cotton. Laces made in this way are known as Plauen laces, taking their name from the city where Beckel invented the process, and they form a large part of the machine-made laces that are now so widely used.

SAWING LOGS INTO 16-INCH LENGTHS PRIOR TO GRINDING THEM INTO PULP

THE HEATER IN A PULP MILL WHERE THE WOOD PULP IS MIXED WITH CLAY

A MODERN FOURDRINIER PAPER-MAKING MACHINE