Why is my sewing machine called a chainstitch and what is it used for differently than a normal lockstitch?

Question

It is a New Home Model 609. Says CHAIN STITCH on upper left. Probably from the 70's. It has 29 stitch patterns + buttonhole stitch settings. It is a nice machine. Obviously it must lockstitch, I don't know. I'm confused. I read about chain stitches and lockstitches. Still confused.

Answer 1

Chainstitch ability is relatively rare among home machines (though it's now found on a serger fairly commonly). I suspect one of the stitches the machine is capable of is a two-thread chainstitch, which can be useful for something like embroidery or basting. The other stitches are probably standard lockstitches.
You may need an adapter of some sort to get the chainstitch.

Try out the stitches. You're looking for one that looks like straight stitch on top, but the bobbin thread makes a chain on the bottom:
check figure 1 here: http://www.sewnews.com/library/sewnews/library/aamach22.htm or you're looking for a 1 thread chainstitch like this, done by a chenille machine:
http://www.chholderby.com/Embroidery/chenille.htm

Here are some chainstitched examples from an old Willcox & Gibbs treadle:
Farther down the page is a piece of a Kenmore manual showing converting a lockstitch capable machine to a chainstitch. Some of the older machines did a 1 thread chainstitch.

Lockstitch looks like the diagram on this page-- same top and bottom:


My MIL's clothes, when she was a girl, were made on a Willcox and Gibb chainstitcher she now owns. When she wanted to get sent home from school, she'd unravel part of her dress. She found the chainstitch very helpful in that endeavor.

You might try asking questions specific to your machine in the yahoo group "wefixit" -- it's a group of sewing machine "shade tree mechanics" and includes a number of professional machine repair people. There is a tremendous collective knowledge pool in that group, and I wouldn't be surprised to find someone might be able to tell you exactly how to set up your machine for chainstitching.

Answer 2

Hello Richard:

I'm not positive, but I think a chain stitch machine operates without a bobbin. Does your machine have a separate bobbin?