Abstract: The invention comprises a method of and machine for stitching a thong to an upper in a machine for the manufacture of footwear in which the vamp is sewn to the upper by leather thongs, in which a barbed needle on a ram reciprocating in a fluid operated cylinder is passed through preformed pairs of shaped holes in the material to be thonged, applying a thonging thread to the needle and applying fluid to one end of the cylinder to draw the needle and the thonging thread through the vamp and the upper, withdrawing the needle and moving the material to receive the needle through a succeeding pair of holes on the material and applying fluid to the opposite end side of the ram and re-passing the needle and thonging thread through the vamp and upper for succeeding stitches, an air line being connected to each end of the cylinder with a control valve to regulate the air flow.