The sewing machine works through a system of gears and pulleys, and is driven by a motor.

The sewing machine needle is fastened to the needle bar, which is driven up and down by the motor through a series of gears.

The motor is controlled by a foot pedal, which lets the sewer vary the speed of the machine.

The fabric is held down by the presser foot, and the feed dog moves the fabric forward.

The most common stitch of a modern machine is the lockstitch.  A lockstitch has two separate threads,one from the needle, and one from the bobbin, which is a spool of thread underneath the fabric, and is rotated by the machines motor.  The threads are interlocking through two layers of fabric and looks the same from the top and bottom of the item being sewn.

The thread runs from a spool at the top of the machine through the tightening arm and through a tension disk assembly.

Sewing machines today are available in the most basic styles to complex electronic computerized models, many make a great variety of different and decorative stitches.

The world would be a very different place without the sewing machine, it has taken a time consuming job and made it fast and easy.