Figure 13. — Corliss' patent model, 1843. The piece of wood in the foreground is an 

 enlarged model of the needle. (Smithsonian photo 42490.) 



together with the position of the eyes permitted the 

 pointed shuttle, carrying the second thread, to pass 

 freely through the loop in the ascending needle 

 thread. The fabric was carried by a pair of cloth 

 rollers, capable of sliding in a horizontal plane in both 

 a lateral and a lengthwise direction. These combined 

 movements were sufficient to enable the operator to 

 produce almost every embroidered design. The orna- 

 menting, which might be a yarn, cord, or gimp, was 

 carried by the shuttle thread. There was no tension 

 on the shuttle thread, which was held in place by the 

 thread from the needle. The stitch produced was a 



form of couching. 32 It was in no sense a lockstitch. 

 Fisher, who was the inventor, readily admitted at a 

 later date that he had not had the slightest idea of 

 producing a sewing machine, in the utilitarian mean- 

 ing of the term. Although it has not been established 

 that this machine was ever put into practical opera- 

 tion, Fisher's invention was to have a far-reaching 

 effect on the development of the sewing machine in 

 England. 



32 In embroidery, couching is the technique of laying a 

 decorative thread on the surface of the fabric and stitching 

 it into place with a second less-conspicuous thread. 



It, 



