Lockstitch

Lockstitch

A lockstitch is the mechanical stitch most commonly made by a sewing machine.

Description

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 and 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 (in the bobbin area) back to the top of the machine, 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.

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.

Prevalence

Most home sewing machines are lockstitch machines, although sergers have entered the home market in the past ten years or so. Of a typical garment factory's sewing machines, half might be lockstitch machines and the other half divided between overlock machines, chain stitch machines, and various other specialized machines.

ee also

* Overlock
* Chain stitch
* Sewing
* Sewing machine


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lockstitch — noun Date: circa 1859 a sewing machine stitch formed by the looping together of two threads one on each side of the material being sewn • lockstitch verb …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • lockstitch — lock stitch n. A stitch made on a sewing machine by the interlocking of the upper thread and the bobbin thread. * * * …   Universalium

  • lockstitch — noun /ˈlɑkstɪʧ/ A stitch made by a sewing machine in which two threads are interlocked …   Wiktionary

  • lockstitch — n. stitch made by a sewing machine in which the top thread interweaves with the bobbin thread …   English contemporary dictionary

  • lockstitch — /ˈlɒkstɪtʃ/ (say lokstich) noun a sewing machine stitch in which two threads are locked together at small intervals …  

  • lockstitch — noun machine stitch in which the top thread interlocks with the bobbin thread • Hypernyms: ↑machine stitch, ↑sewing machine stitch …   Useful english dictionary

  • Littleway Lockstitch — ˌlitəlˌwā trademark used for a shoe constructed by a method in which the upper and lining are attached to the insole by means of staples that do not penetrate to the upper surface of the insole and the outsole is attached to the insole by means… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Sewing machine — Elias Howe s lockstitch machine, invented 1845 A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount …   Wikipedia

  • Overlock — The pearl stitch An overlock stitch sews over the edge of one or two pieces of cloth for edging, hemming or seaming. Usually an overlock sewing machine will cut the edges of the cloth as they are fed through (such machines are called ‘sergers’ in …   Wikipedia

  • Sewing — or stitching is the fastening of cloth, leather, furs, bark, or other flexible materials, using needle and thread. Its use is nearly universal among human populations and dates back to Paleolithic times (30,000 BC). Sewing predates the weaving of …   Wikipedia

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