eived the
idea of using two threads, and forming a stitch by the aid of a shuttle
and a curved needle with the eye near the point. This was the triumph of
his skill. He had now invented a perfect sewing-machine, and had
discovered the essential principles of every subsequent modification of
his conception. Satisfied that he had at length solved the problem, he
constructed a rough model of his machine of wood and wire, in October,
1844, and operated it to his perfect satisfaction. His invention is
thus described:

"He used a needle and a shuttle of novel construction, and combined them
with holding surfaces, feed mechanism and other devices, as they had
never before been brought together, in one machine One of the principal
features of Mr. Howe's invention is the combination of a grooved needle,
having an eye near its point, and vibrating in the direction of its
length, with a side-pointed shuttle for effecting a locked stitch, and
forming, with the threads, one on each side of the cloth, a firm and
lasting seam not easily ripped. The main action of the machine consists
in the interlocking of the loop, made by the thread carried in the point
of the needle through the cloth, with another thread passed through this
loop by means of a shuttle entering and leaving it at every stitch. The
thread attached to this shuttle remains in the loop and secures the
stitch as the needle is withdrawn to be ready to make the next one. At
the same time the cloth, held by little projecting pins to the baster
plate, is carried along with this by what is called the 'feed motion'
just the length of a stitch, the distance being readily adjusted for
finer or coarser work. .... The cloth is held in a vertical position in
the machine, and the part to be sewed is pressed against the side of the
shuttle-race by a presser plate hinged on its upper edge, and capable of
exerting any required pressure on the cloth, according as the adjusting
screw that regulates it is turned. A slot, or perforation through the
plate, also extended through the side of the shuttle-race near the
bottom, admits the passage of the needle; and when this is pushed in the
shuttle can still pass freely over it. The shuttle is pushed one way and
then the other through its race or trough by picker staves. The thread
for the needle is supplied by a bobbin, the movement of which is
checked by a friction band, this securing the proper tension, and the
slack of the thread is duly take