Abstract: A lifting device for the presser foot of a sewing machine comprising an operating lever provided on a front face of the sewing machine for synchronous knee or arm operation. The operating lever is connected via a linkage to one end of a double lever arranged in the proximity of the rear side of the machine. The other end of the double lever engages the presser bar. The double lever is supported to be pivotable in a vertical plane. An upwardly projecting guide arm is operatively connected to the lever arm and includes a detent member which is in engaging relationship in a groove which is disposed in a vertical plane. The groove extends approximately in the shape of a heart and closes on itself. The groove has, at the tip of the heart, a lower detent location and, in the central zone between the two upper arcs of the heart an upper detent location for receiving the detent member. Upper stop locations are positioned in the upper arcs of the heart.