Courtesy of Wilcox and Gibbs Sewing Machine Co.
Fig. 52.—Single thread machine.
Do you know that sewing machines were invented less than one hundred years ago? Our great-grandmothers had to do all their sewing by hand, and some of our grandmothers too. A man by the name of Elias Howe, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, first thought about the sewing machine; and since then many different kinds have been invented, to be run by foot and also by mechanical power,—electricity. We have two kinds of foot-power machines. One kind (Fig. 52) has only one thread, which is placed on a spool on top; and the other (Fig. 53), the two-thread or double-thread, is like the one we have at school. The double-thread machine is called a lock-stitch machine, because one thread is on top on a spool and the other is on a little spool called a bobbin in the shuttle under the plate. The two threads lock together as the machine works. You will learn how later. The machine with only one thread on top is called a chain-stitch machine. The stitching made by it rips very easily; and the ends must be fastened carefully when one stops. The double-thread machine does not rip easily; and one can stitch on either the right or wrong side of a garment. On the single-thread machine, one must stitch on the right side always. Let us look at a machine before learning to operate it.
What parts do you find below the table? What use is the connecting rod? What does it connect? Watch how your teacher puts her feet on the treadle. What makes the wheel above the table turn around?
Courtesy of New Home Sewing Machine Co.
Fig. 53.—Double-thread machine.
You should practice running the machine first without any thread so as to learn to use the treadle well, and then with paper to see if you are holding it straight and making rows of pricks which are straight and even. If one cannot make rows of even pricks, it means the sewing will be crooked and must be ripped. Some of the Pleasant Valley girls practiced in this way at home.
What do you find besides the wheel above the table? The shaft has many parts. Can you name some? Yes, the spool holder, which holds the spool; the needle bar, which holds the needle and moves up and down; the foot, which is called the presser foot and can be raised or lowered by the little handle; the needle plate, through which the needle works; the feed, which is like little rough teeth of a comb and helps to push the cloth along as one stitches. The little attachment near the wheel is for winding bobbins for the shuttle. The shuttle lies in the shuttle race under the plate. Suppose we move the plate and take it out. See, the bobbin is in the shuttle. This is the second thread.