How a Sewing Machine Works…

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If you were wondering how a sewing machine works, this is for you. I’m naturally curious and I like to know how things work, so this caught my eye. Here you have it. (AND, as an added bonus, I decided to trace this back from where I first encountered it to its origin. It only took five minutes.)

Here’s an excerpt from the Lockstitch entry on Wikipedia:

The lockstitch uses two threads, an upper and a lower. The upper thread runs from a spool kept on a spindle on top of or next to the machine, through a tension mechanism, a take-up arm, and finally through the hole in the needle. The lower thread is wound onto a bobbin, which is inserted into a case in the lower section of the machine. To make one stitch, the machine lowers the threaded needle through the cloth into the bobbin area, where a hook catches the upper thread at the point just after it goes through the needle. The hook mechanism carries the upper thread entirely around the bobbin case, so that it has made one wrap of the bobbin thread. Then the take-up arm pulls the excess upper thread ( from the bobbin area ) back to the top forming the lockstitch ideally in the center of the thickness of the material, the tension mechanism prevents the thread from being pulled from the spool side, the needle is pulled out of the cloth, and the feed dogs pull the cloth back one stitch length, the cycle is repeated as the machine turns mechanically.

Lockstitch is so named because the two threads, upper and lower, “lock” together in the hole in the fabric which they pass through. The term “single needle stitching”, often found on dress shirt labels, refers to lockstitch, as opposed to chain stitch which unravels easily and is usually used on lower quality garments.

So, without further ado, I first found this post at swissmiss, who got it from Dossier, who got it from Bits & Pieces, who got it from The J-Walk Blog, who seems to have gotten it from Wikicommons. It’s also possible that someone found it at the Wikipedia entry for Sewing machine or Lockstitch.

You’re welcome.