Abstract: Thread-loading apparatus for loading a bobbin spool with a predetermined length of thread between sewing operations wherein there is a reciprocal loading tube arranged to receive and draw thread from a package of thread, deliver its leading end to the bobbin and project it onto the bobbin while the latter is being rotated at a high speed so as to be caught thereby and wound onto the bobbin; a slack-producing device for drawing a slack length of thread from the package of thread preparatory to a loading operation to thus eliminate the inertial resistance of the package of thread to giving up thread; a precisely-controlled thread measuring device employed to control the length of thread delivered to the bobbin; and a bobbin having peripherally-spaced flexible fingers on its hub for entraining the leading end of the thread delivered to the bobbin.

Abstract: The application discloses a method and apparatus for the substantially automated forming and sewing of hems on pillowcases and the like. The open end of a pillowcase is applied over hem folding forms, which first fold a large hem, and then a small blind hem is formed to conceal the raw edge of the fabric. Unique arrangements, covered in my related U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,058, are provided for effecting these hem folding operations. According to the invention, the pillowcase is then partially inflated with air and advanced circumferentially, while the hem structure is sewed into the article. The disclosure includes advantageous arrangements for the detection of an unsewn seam along the formed hem, and also advantageous arrangements for sensing the completion of the sewing operation. Automatic arrangements are provided for the insertion and sewing of a label, and the removal and stacking of the completed article after sewing.