By far the best tool in the shop is our Puritan Sewing Machine. Ours is #643 built in the year 1893. Yes that is 120 years old. Seen as the work horse of any sewing operation, it is a USA built machine using genuine US steel, and is obviously built to last. The crafts-people who use these machines develop relationships with them and we are no exeption.
Here is a great video from Red Wing that expresses the passion that these machines inspire.
While Red Wing uses a three needle stitch we utilizes a single needle. Both represent a chain stitch. This is a unique stitch where the thread is is double looped with one loop being threaded through the other. Howstuffworks.com provided this really great representation of how chain stitching works.
For comparison this a traditional lock stitch.
While both stitches have their place and use, we chain stitch on our bags and zipper settings.