This is the stitch used for sewing basic seams and topstitching ... Then you need to neaten your edges, press the hem into place and pop under the machine, guiding the fabric through following ...

John Niles of St. Johns County, Florida, shares his favorite vintage sewing machines: Five Singers and one wild card.

The sewing machine can’t do a backstitch with a single thread as you might expect, it’s very difficult for a machine to pass the thread though the fabric in its entirety on each stitch.