Zigzag stitch 1

Zigzag stitchA zigzag stitch is variant geometry of the lockstitch. It is a back-and-forth stitch used where a straight stitch will notsuffice, such as in reinforcing buttonholes, in stitching stretchable fabrics, and in temporarily joining two workpieces edge-to-edge.

When creating a zigzag stitch, the back-and-forth motion of the sewing machine's needle is controlled by a cam. Asthe cam rotates, a fingerlike follower, connected to the needle bar, rides along the cam and tracks its indentations. Asthe follower moves in and out, the needle bar is moved from side to side[1] . Very old sewing machines lack thishardware and so cannot natively produce a zigzag stitch, but there are often shank-driven attachments availablewhich enable them to do so.

Zigzagger attachments

Singer model 160985 zigzagger

Older sewing machines which only sew a straight stitch can beadapted to sew a zigzag by means of an attachment. Theattachment replaces the machine's presser foot with its own, anddraws mechanical power from the machine's needle clamp (whichrequires the needle clamp to have a side-facing thumbscrew). Itcreates a zigzag by mechanically moving the fabric side to side asthe machine runs.

The zigzagger's foot has longitudinal grooves on its underside,facing the material, which confer traction only sideways. Thisallows the zigzagger to move the material side to side while themachine's feed dogs are simultaneously moving the materialforward or backward in the usual manner.

Singer zigzaggers

Singer model 160985 zigzagger kit

Singer produced variety of "Singer Automatic Zigzagger"attachments over the years, including part numbers 160985 and161102. These zigzaggers are equipped with pop-in cams (called"Stitch Patterns") for making four different zigzag stitches, as wellas a bight control for choosing the zigzag width.

Four cams are included. There are also sets of additional differentcams, four cams per set, sold as "Singer Stitch Patterns forAutomatic Zigzagger". All cam sets are Singer part number161008, and contain the following cams:

Zigzag stitch 2

Set number Cam part number Pattern name

#2 red (included*) 161000 Zigzag

161001 Blind Stitch

161002 Domino Stitch

161003 Arrowhead Stitch

#2 white** 161004 Scallops

161005 Multiple Stitch

161006 Walls of Troy

161007 Icicle

#3 blue 161067 Key

161068 Ball

161069 Block

161070 Shingle

#4 yellow 161071 Curved Mending

161072 Open Scallop

161073 Three Step

161074 Solid Scallop

*The #2 red set is included with the 160985 and 161102 zigzaggers.**Older #2 white sets have red-colored cams.

"YS Star" zigzagger

Older (red) YS-7 "Zigzager"

"YS Star" is a brand of Japanese sewing accessories that onceincluded a zigzagger, model YS-7. Like the Singer zigzagger, itfits almost any low-shank sewing machine and draws mechanicalpower via an arm connected to the machine's needle clamp. Itsstitch pattern is controlled by small flat rectangular metaltemplates, seven of which are included.

Two versions were made:

Version Name Body Templates

Older "Automatic Zig-Zager" [sic] on box, "Automatic Zigzager"[sic] on user manual

Red plastic over chromedmetal

7 patterns on 7 single-ended templates

Newer ? Green plastic overchromed metal

7 patterns on 3 double-ended and 1single-ended templates

Zigzag stitch 3

White zigzagger

White Zigzag Attachment

The White Sewing Machine Company produced a zigzagattachment like the others. It was called the "White ZigzagAttachment", part number 1640. Rather than using cams ortemplates, it is much simpler, offering just a single control foradjusting the bight (zigzag width).

Blind stitch

A blind stitch is a variant geometry ofthe zigzag stitch. It is also called a"blind hem". It is composed the sameway as a zigzag, except that theindividual zig-zag pairs are eachseparated by several straight stitches.Its purpose is to create a nearlyinvisible hem: because only thezigzags penetrate to the visible side ofthe material, minimizing their numberminimizes their visibility.

References[1] Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing. Pleasantville, New York: The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 32-36.

Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsZigzag stitch  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=394985301  Contributors: Jonkerz, Txinviolet, 2 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Regular_apeirogon_zig-zag.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Regular_apeirogon_zig-zag.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Original uploader wasTomruen at en.wikipediaimage:Singer.Zigzagger.160985.mounted.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Singer.Zigzagger.160985.mounted.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: TxinvioletImage:Singer.Zigzagger.160985.kit.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Singer.Zigzagger.160985.kit.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: TxinvioletImage:YSStar.YS7.older.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:YSStar.YS7.older.jpg  License: Copyrighted free use  Contributors: Ebay user patternsfoundImage:White.ZigzaggerAttachment.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:White.ZigzaggerAttachment.jpg  License: Copyrighted free use  Contributors: Ebay userapworthImage:BlindStitch.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BlindStitch.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Txinviolet

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