31 50 141 c1 which corresponds to u s pat no 4 491 080 which is hereby incorporated by reference the sewing machine is equipped with a thread cutting device 12 which has a catch thread device 13 with a cutting edge 14 fig3 and 6 and a knife 15 the drive mechanism of the thread cutting device 12 is designated by 16 the design and the mode of action of the thread cutting device 12 correspond to the thread cutting device according to the above mentioned german patent application no 197 22 395 the knife 15 can be correspondingly moved from a resting position into a cutting position located adjacent to the stitch hole 6 which is a prerequisite for obtaining short fabric side thread ends in conjunction with a pedal not shown a control device designated by 17 controls the drive motor 1 the course of the thread cutting process over time and the time of the switchover of the stitch length mechanism 11 fig3 shows the initial situation before the beginning of a thread cutting process in which the sewing machine was stopped at the end of the seam with the needle 3 in the lower position the catch thread device 13 and the knife 15 are in the resting position located away from the stitch hole 6 at this point in time as the thread cutting process is initiated the sewing machine is briefly driven once again the hook 7 now performs a full revolution the take up lever 4 reaches the top dead.