Abstract: A thread shield, for a sewing machine having means to interrupt needle bar reciprocation and a take-up with a threading slot to an eyelet thereof, to discourage thread escape from the eyelet or double threading of the eyelet by loose, slung around thread. The sewing machine take-up moves in an up and down path from an uppermost position, where thread may be drawn to the eyelet by way of the threading slot, to a lower position where appreciable slack thread forms when the needle bar reciprocation is interrupted. At the position where appreciable slack thread forms, the take-up moves closely adjacent to an upstanding rib which overlaps the entry to the threading slot thus to deter thread loops from reentering the threading slot. The forward surface of the upstanding rib is tapered in a horizontal plane towards the take-up lever to impede thread, which might otherwise move from the eyelet rearwardly down the threading slot to the threading slot entry.