a model of the machine is exhibited at the london science museum. the machine is made of wood and uses a barbed needle which passes downward through the cloth to grab the thread and pull it up to form a loop to be locked by the next loop. the first american lockstitch sewing machine was invented by walter hunt in 1832. his machine used an eye-pointed needle (with the eye and the point on the same end) carrying the upper thread and a falling shuttle carrying the lower thread. the curved needle moved through the fabric horizontally, leaving the loop as it withdrew. the shuttle passed through the loop, interlocking the thread. the feed let the machine down, requiring the machine to be stopped frequently and reset up. hunt eventually lost interest in his machine and sold individual machines without bothering to patent his invention, and only patenting it at a late date of 1854. in 1842, john greenough patented the first sewing machine in the united states. the british partners newton and archibold introduced the eye-pointed needle and the use of two pressing surfaces to keep the pieces of fabric in position, in 1841.