17 the positioning member 17 is adjustably mounted on a rod 29 that is mounted in and extends from a support block 30 this support block is adjustably mounted on a side rail 31 which is attached to and extends along one side of the work surface 10 the side rail 31 serves to locate the support block 30 and consequently the positioning member 17 relative to the location of the sewing machine 11 and the length of the layers of fabric placed therebetween at the start of a stitching cycle the positioning member 17 includes a pair of divergent tongues 32 and 33 which are disposed so as to receive the gripper 16 when it returns after having released the workpiece 21 specifically the tongue identified by numeral 32 extends generally in the same direction of movement as the fabric whereas the tongue identified by numeral 33 extends in the direction of a feeder device 34 that is positioned on the work surface 10 by means of a rod 29 the feeder device 34 is of a well known type and enables an operator to consistently locate the layers of fabric to be joined in the same predetermined position for permitting attachment of the gripper thereto and serves to substantially reduce the time required for preparing fabrics for stitching to attach the gripper to the layers of fabric positioned by the feeder device the gripper on return to the positoning member must be.