Abstract: A sewing machine accessory with an accessory head which can be quickly and easily attached and removed from a sewing machine. One version of the accessory head can be mounted to a sewing machine foot, while another version can be mounted on a sewing machine shank. Either version can use a protrusion in a mating slot to serve as the mounting connection, configured so that simply inserting the protrusion into the slot is sufficient for attachment, and simply removing the protrusion from the slot is sufficient for detachment. A particular embodiment of the accessory can enable straight seams or hems to be sewn parallel to a material edge without requiring a steady hand or great skill by the operator. An edge guide is provided with a predetermined offset from the sewing machine needle, thus permitting the operator to guide the material through the sewing mechanism in a very straight line, with the resulting seam being a consistently accurate distance from the edge of the material.

Abstract: An improvement to a sewing machine which allows ribbons, trim, elastic bands and other linear-shaped materials to be accurately and automatically controlled and guided as they are fed into the sewing mechanism. For elastic, an adjustable control is provided that automatically prestretches the elastic as it feeds into the machine. This control allows the user to adjust the amount of tension in the elastic, and thus control the amount of stretch which is sewn into the finished product. These features are implemented in a hands-free manner, so the operator is not burdened with having to manually guide the materials while simultaneously tending to all the other manual duties that a sewing machine operator must typically contend with. The invention is implemented with one or more guides which can be mounted on the sewing machine foot. Custom feet are provided to allow the invention to be retrofitted onto existing sewing machines.