Abstract: An apparatus for sewing an over-edge stitch to form a butt-seam in sections of carpet or other thick workpieces is provided, wherein an existing over-edge stitching machine has four primary parts removed and replaced with four parts of different designs, the parts being the workpiece guide, the top looper, the top looper pivot arm and the bottom looper. The new workpiece guide forgoes using the attachments employed by the guide it replaces, and is instead soldered or otherwise secured to the existing needle plate, and the new workpiece guide has a finger extension which operates to keep thread loops formed by the stitching components in a loose configuration until substantially no further tension is produced on the thread loops by the stitching components.