one hundred years ago. The machine is
currently used by commercial manufacturers to produce decorative
edge-stitching that very closely resembles hand stitching.

THREAD FOR THE MACHINE

[Illustration: Figure 67.--SIX-CORD cabled thread.]

The need for a good thread durable enough to withstand the action of
machine stitching first created a problem and ultimately another new
industry in this country. When the sewing machine was first developed
the inventors necessarily had to use the sewing thread that was
available. But, although the contemporary thread was quite suitable for
hand sewing, it did not lend itself to the requirements of the machine.
Cotton thread, then more commonly a three-ply variety, had a glazed
finish and was wiry. Silk thread frequently broke owing to abrasion at
the needle eye. For the most part linen thread was too coarse, or the
fine variety was too expensive. All of the thread had imperfections that
went unnoticed in the hands of a seamstress, but caused havoc in a
machine. Quality silk thread that would withstand the rigors of machine
stitching could be produced, but it was quite expensive also. A new type
of inexpensive thread was needed; the obvious answer lay in improving
the cotton thread.[85]

In addition to the popular three-ply variety, cotton thread was also
made by twisting together either two single yarns or more than three
yarns. Increasing the number of yarns produced a more cylindrical
thread. The earliest record of a six-ply cotton thread was about
1840.[86] And in 1850 C. E. Bennett of Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
received a gold medal for superior six-cord, or six-ply, spool cotton at
the Fair of the American Institute. But the thread was still wiry and
far from satisfactory. By the mid-1860s the demonstrated need for thread
manufacturers in America brought George A. Clark and William Clark,
third generation cotton-thread manufacturers of Paisley, Scotland, to
Newark, New Jersey, where they built a large mill. George Clark decided
that a thread having both a softer finish and a different construction
was needed. He produced a six-cord cabled thread, made up of three
two-ply yarns (see fig. 67). The thread was called "Clark's 'Our New
Thread,'" which was later shortened to O.N.T. The basic machine-thread
problem was solved. When other manufacturers used the six-cord cabled
construction they referred to their thread as "Best Six-Cord"[87] or
"Superior Six-Cord"[88] to disting