which carries thereon a presser foot loading and release assembly including a spring loaded presser bar 20 for releasably urging the presser foot arm 22 in a direction to apply downward force to a workpiece passing through the machine a portion of the presser foot arm 22 is shown in fig1 with the remainder of the arm and the presser foot being broken away to more clearly show the thread handling components of the machine materials to be sewn on the machine is fed over a work support plate 24 fig1 and needle plate fig2 4 by a pair of driven feed dogs 26 in intermittent increments equal to the length of the successive stitches formed therein feed dogs 26 are each mounted on a feed carrier 28 which is reciprocated in a fore and aft direction by a scotch yoke assembly 30 and in a vertical direction by an eccentric on a feed raising shaft 32 the scotch yoke assembly and feed raising assembly cooperating to drive the feed dogs in a substantially elliptical path a curved sewing needle 34 is mounted as by clamp 36 on the distal end of a needle carrier arm 38 which in turn is rigidly mounted on the end of a rock shaft 40 for movement therewith to oscillate the needle through a workpiece passing over the work support plate 24 and needle plate 42 and beneath the pressure foot not shown at the stitch forming station of the machine the needle 34 has an opening or eye 44 adjacent its end and a needle thread 46 passes through the needle eye so that a loop of the thread is carried through a workpiece and beneath the needle plate 42 upon each.