. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. -------- \^ Figure 35.—This Grover and Baker cabinet-style sewing machine of 1856 bears the serial number 5675 and the patent dates February 11. 1851, June 22, 1852, February 22, 1853, and May 27, 1856. (Smithsonian photo 45572-F.) spools and eliminate the need to wind one thread upon a bobbin. After much experimenting, he proved that it was possible to make a seam by interlocking two threads in a succession of slipknots, but he found that building a machine to do this was a much more difficult task. It is quite surprising that while he was
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. -------- \^ Figure 35.—This Grover and Baker cabinet-style sewing machine of 1856 bears the serial number 5675 and the patent dates February 11. 1851, June 22, 1852, February 22, 1853, and May 27, 1856. (Smithsonian photo 45572-F.) spools and eliminate the need to wind one thread upon a bobbin. After much experimenting, he proved that it was possible to make a seam by interlocking two threads in a succession of slipknots, but he found that building a machine to do this was a much more difficult task. It is quite surprising that while he was working on this idea, he did not stumble upon a good method to produce the single-thread (as opposed to Grover and Baker's two-thread) chainstitch, later worked out by another. Grover was working so intently on the use of two threads that apparently no thought of forming a stitch with one thread had a chance to develop. At this time Grover became a partner with another Boston tailor, William E. Baker, and on February 11, 1851, they were issued patent No. 7,931 for a machine that did exactly what Grover had set out to do; it made a double chainstitch with two threads both carried on ordinary thread spools. The machine (figs. 34 and 35) used a vertical eye-pointed needle for the top thread and a horizontal needle for the underthread. The cloth was placed on the hori- zontal platform or table, which had a hole for the entry of the vertical needle. When this needle passed through the cloth, it formed a loop on the underside. The horizontal needle passed through this loop forming another loop beyond, which was retained until the redescending vertical needle 36. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original United States National Museum; Smithsonian Institution; United States. Dept. of the Interior. Washi
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